


Those Wings

by Midnight_Phantasm



Category: Original Work
Genre: Action/Adventure, Fantasy, Magic, Multi, Original Character(s)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-10
Updated: 2020-01-14
Packaged: 2020-10-14 02:37:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 22
Words: 34,820
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20593307
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Midnight_Phantasm/pseuds/Midnight_Phantasm
Summary: At the top of the clock tower, I sit there, alone, enjoying the light blaze in the dusking sky while having my favorite treat.“How long do you think has passed since that day?”, I ask.From my shadow, he crawls out. A devil-grin appears on his face: “What’s wrong? Starting to lose your patience already~?”Noticing the faint turmoil in my silence, his grin disappears, replaces with a long sigh, “7543 years, 3 months and 16 days.”-----------------------------------------------This is simply a story, about the memory of a boy, whose time has long frozen.





	1. Asleep

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys!
> 
> I'm just someone who wish to share a story that went round and round inside my head for some time, now. A complete novice when it come to writing, and English is not even my first language, haha!
> 
> Still, I hope that you have a good time reading my work ^-^!

At the top of the clock tower, I sit there, alone, enjoying the light blaze in the dusking sky while having my favorite treat.

“How long do you think has passed since _that day_?”, I ask.

From my shadow, _he_ crawls out. A devil-grin appears on his face: “What’s wrong? Starting to lose your patience already~?”

Noticing the faint turmoil in my silence, his grin disappears, replaces with a long sigh, “7543 years, 3 months and 16 days.”

“So it’s been _that_ long, huh…?”, I smile grimly and took another bite, “I’m impressed that you actually remember the time”.

“Nope! Just made that up~”, he flashes his devil-grin again, “Stop counting when it reached 8000 years, though”.

“So much to ask from someone like you…”, I sigh, then look at the wooden stick, “Not the winner this time, again.”

“You still eat that _junk_???”, the devil looks at me in distaste, “What’s the flavor, again? Sea salt ice cream, right? Thought you hate it in the first place.”

“It’s salty, but sweet. I like it”, say I, with a lazy grin.

“And for your information”, I point the stick at the devil’s face, “this _junk _is one of the things that kept me sane through all this time.”

“Seems like time has ruined your taste buds, my dear friend.”, he shrugs, “Then again, who am _I_ to judge? In the beginning, you don’t even have to care about eating.”

“You’re right”, I throw the stick and watch it falls to the ground. After hearing a very small sound as if it disperses into the air, I say to him: “I can’t remember the last time I had a proper meal”.

Silence fills around us as the sun is beginning its long fall toward a fiery twilight.

“What should I do now?”, I ask.

“Sleep” 

“But I have already slept for too long.”

“The worlds you have vowed to protect have obtained their happy ending, and the ones you longed for have not yet appeared. The only thing you can do now, is sleep.

Moreover, you’re gonna start _that_ again, right? Haiz, how many times have we repeated that already? Not that I complain or anything.”

“…”

“Dream sweet dreams. And don’t you worry, I will watch over you.”, he pats my head while saying that.

“…Thank you, my friend…”, with that said, I lie down and close my eyes, let myself wandering into the only world I can call my own.


	2. The island’s monster

_It’s time to start…_

“The monster is over there!”; “Let’s kill the monster!”. The kids shouted to each other then threw rocks at the figure, who was sitting under the trees.

Well, that person was, unfortunately, me. Behold, yours truly – a little boy like them, with eyes blue like the ocean and hair black like the sky at midnight. But the only thing that made me unlike everyone else, made people call me a ‘monster’ was my wings.

Yes, unlike any normal people I had met, I have wings. My two wings were as big as half of my body, had the same color as my hair and the shape like no other creatures I had seen. In the artistic view, my wings were not ugly, but also nowhere to be called ‘beautiful’. With the fading sunlight in the afternoon, one could say that I became one with the shadow.

I easily used one of my wings to block the flying rocks and then glanced at the other kids. “Run away!”, “It’s going to kill us!”, the kids ran away, fear appeared in their face. Leaving those kids behind, I walked away with a sigh.

It became a normal thing at Luna island. Every time I approached the kids, they would end up running away from me or attacking me. True, they were quite annoying, but never the problem. The ones I felt most uneasy were the adults. Although they (mostly) didn’t harm me because of their respect of Lucia and Cedric, the ones who protected the village from monsters, and also the ones who accepted me and treated me as part of their family, but the ability – also one of the secrets of mine – to see other people’s heart made me see how scornful they felt toward me. There was no doubt that they were the one taught the children how ‘monstrous’ I was.

Despite everything, I didn’t hate this ability. However, the fact that I had to look at those dirty thoughts made me preferred quiet places, like the village’s library.

The library was literally my paradise. Alyssa – the librarian – was very kind and she said that I could spent as much time as I like there. I really liked the library’s atmosphere, and the books helped me see the outside world without leaving the island.

“Good afternoon, child.”

“Good afternoon, Alyssa!”

After the normal greeting, like the usual, I went upstairs. The creaking sound could be heard every time I made a step, which reminded me once more to help maintaining the building.

I walked to the aisle where they held story books. I have read many kinds of book. Historical records, Magic books, Literature, … you name it, but the story books, though some were just fictional, but they would always make my heart raced.

I chose one of the books I like and went to Alyssa.

“What do we have this time? ‘_The story of the lost world’_? Haven’t you read this book 5 times already?”

“Yes, I really can’t let my eyes out of this one.”

“You’re always saying that every time you want to take a book home. But that’s what I like about you”, said Alyssa with a bright smile on her face.

“But this book is a little bit different from any other books I have read. The main character was a boy who runs away from his homeland and accidently travel to a different world, where he can meet his true friends. I never get tired of reading this one”

“Then I will be very happy for you to have it.”

…Wait, did my ears deceive me or did she just said--?!

“Really!? But this book is too precious, I appreciate it but I really can’t accept this gift.”

“Don’t be like that! You are the only kid who likes to stay here for more than 5 minutes, and the way you treat the books makes me believe that you are just the right person for it.”

“…Thank you, I will treasure this!”

“I know you will, child”, she then let out a small sigh, “But really, kids this day should spend more time reading instead of running around and playing.”

I hold my new book with the greatest joy in my heart, like a child who was given a present. Literally, I was a 9-year-old boy who was given my favorite book – which, for me, was one of my life’s treasure.

“There is one thing you need to know, my child,” said Alyssa, just when I was about to leave, “The world, thought is broad, to people who know it, is very narrow.”

Watching the sun casts its golden rays down upon the clouds of billowing smoke, turning them bright red, I couldn’t help myself but think about what Alyssa said.

⸢Alyssa the Wise⸥, true to that title, she held an immense amount knowledge about many things in this very word. But because of that, I wondered whether the thing she said is based on her knowledge, or…

Before I knew it, I was in front of my house. The sweet scent of food coming through the window pulled me back to reality.

Well, I had plenty of time to think about it, anyway.

I entered the house and saw Cedric who was polishing his weapon while Lucia preparing the dinner in the kitchen.

“Hi Mom! Hi Dad! I’m home!”

Lucia, while setting out the dishes, looked at the me and smiled warmly.

_ “Welcome home, Ventus.” _


	3. The daily life

_If things stay like this…_

“Okay Ven! I think that’s it for today’s training”, said Cedric while wiping the sweat off his forehead.

Every morning, Cedric and I had weapon training before dawn. Personally, I didn’t like the idea of learning combat and weaponry. The relationship between me and the islanders was really bad already, what would happen if they learnt that the ‘monster’ knew how to fight. But one of the very few things I had to agree with him that I should learn necessary skills to protect myself in the future.

“What’s wrong, kid? Based on your expression, looks like you are having a bad time.”

“I know I have asked you this question more than once, but I will ask again: Why do I have to learn how to use more than– “, and before I could finish the sentence, Cedric gave me a knock on the head. His fist – with not less than 30 years of fighting experience – by no means gentle.

“Ooowww! What was that for?”

“I know I have answered you this question more than _once_, but I will answer again”, Cedric repeated my question with a playful tone, “The reason I teach you how to use more than one weapon is you yourself don’t know what type of weapon is most suitable for you. With those big wings of yours, neither you or I will know which weapon you can use to defend yourself. In the end, maybe you will fond of using the bow to for a range attack while flying, or maybe you can use the sword for melee combat with your wings as the shield. But it’s best to have experience of many kinds of different weapons”, He patted my head and smiled, “Don’t worry, kid. It’s not like I’m expecting you to be a colosseum’s champion or something, but I’m sure that you will thank me someday for the training I have given you”.

Although with that said, I knew that he expected more of me because of my wings. Seriously, what other reason could it be to train a 9-year-old boy like a mature man and think weird ideas that no one could think about using his wings in a fight?!

Nevertheless, I had to admit that Cedric was a great man in many ways. Not just mastering many skills in many kinds of weaponry, but he was also good at crafting weapons, too. Most of the weapons the islanders used were crafted by his own hands. Cedric even made weapons that I could easily use during their training. He was very patient in teaching me weapon and martial arts, and he didn’t let me to have the chance to accidently injure myself.

“Well then, let’s get ourselves clean and ready for breakfast! You must be hungry by now, right?”, the man asked.

Before I could respond, we heard a loud rumbling noise.

…

I wished there was a hole for me to jump down.

“I will take that as a _yes_”, Cedric laughed, “Let’s get going, then”.

After cleaning ourselves, me and Cedric rushed into the kitchen, where Lucia was setting the table and preparing the dishes.

“The food is ready! “, she said happily, “So Ven, how was your training today?”.

“I learnt about archery today, and as usual, Dad trained me until I couldn’t hold my bow”.

“Hey! I was going easy on you, kid! If I was really intending to do so, you wouldn’t even have the energy to walk inside the house.”, he interrupted.

“I think you still need to go easier on him, dear. He is just a kid.”

“He is already nine years old, and I started holding a sword when I was seven”, he said proudly.

‘It’s not like everyone is a monster like you, Dad’, I tried my best not to let the thought slipped through my mouth.

“Hm? Is there something you want to say?”, Cedric asked while chewing half of the sausage.

“Come on darling, let the boy have some peace during his meal time!” Lucia exhaled, “And you shouldn’t talk with your mouth full like that! You are setting a bad example for Ven”.

Don’t worry, Mom. No way in this universe I would be like _him._

“It’s not the _wurst_ thing he has seen from me, sweetheart”, he said.

“Please, Cedric! No jokes in the morning.” Lucia complained, but failed to hide her grin.

After cleaning the kitchen and getting prepared for the patrol, the couple said goodbye and leave. I flew to the forest to collect fruits and ingredients for dinner. Hunting was also part of my training. The high magic density around the island made it a perfect place for magical beasts to live. Mostly the beasts stayed at the forest side, but sometimes there were monsters running to the villages and attacking the islanders. That’s when the couple and their warriors shone.

I successfully shot 2 little wyverns with my bow. Moreover, I found some good herbs that can be used for tea.

Hm…Alyssa would love this. 

After getting the job done, I went to the library and meet the old librarian. The kind lady greeted me with a smile: “Hello there, my child”.

“Good afternoon Alyssa. Look what I got for you!”, I said while showing her the herb bag.

“Aren’t you a sweet child?”, Alyssa smiled, “Luckily I have some cookies with me today, would you like to keep this old lady company?”.

“I would love to! Let me make some tea for both of us.”

I loved spending time with Alyssa. Usually I would help the old librarian cleaning the library or re-organize the books. Sometimes we would have a little chat and tell each other the stories we had read. I could never get bored of the stories from her past experiences, and I also took note of her ‘19 secret tricks that make your cookies tasted better’.

“Ah, time sure flies”, Alyssa sighed, “I can’t believe 9 years have passed already…”.

“I don’t think it’s been that long…?”

“Don’t ever doubt me, child”, the old lady grinned, “I may be old, but I have a very good memory. Do you want me to remind you the time when you thought you could use your wings as fins and tried to swim but –”.

“No no no please don’t, I don’t want to remem––”

“But I have to admit, it was really funny. The memory of Cedric bursting into laughter after hearing the reason why you jumped to the sea always amused me”.

“Please stop teasing me! My heart can’t take this!”

The librarian laughed, and in the end I couldn’t help but giggle at the humorous memory.

After chat, we chatted about various things while enjoying the afternoon breeze.

“Ventus, you are an amazing person”

…Hm? Somehow I wasn’t used to the change of atmosphere.

“Even though many people loathe you for no reason, you can still see the world beautifully and live with a smile. Although many people have hurt you just because of your differences from others, you never fought back even when you have the power to do so. Your kindness and compassion for others is the very special thing that normal people don’t usually have.”.

Alyssa…

“It is because I have you, Mom and Dad with me. I can be who I am now because of you all.”.

Alyssa gave me a warm hug, “Don’t ever change, my child. Just stay the way you are and I believe you will have many friends in the future.”

“Thank you so much Alyssa.”, I looked through the glass window for a moment then said, “I have to go home now. It’s getting late and I don’t want the couple to get worried.”.

“Be safe, child. And thank you for the tea, it was really good.”

“You, too! Your cookies are the best!”

Cedric and Lucia arrived home by the time I had finished preparing the ingredients for dinner.

“Welcome home!”

“Hello Ven!”, Lucia smiled, “How was your day, dear?”

“Hey kid!”, Cedric waved his hand, and then looked at the ingredients lying on the table. “Well, well… Looks like someone has put his bow into good use. And you’ve even done all the preparation, too.”

“Today’s your turn to cook dinner, so I simply don’t want you to ruin my hard work.”, I chuckled.

“Thanks kid, you know me _too_ well”, Cedric replied in a mocking tone.

“So Ventus, are you ready for our lesson?”, Lucia asked.

“I’m always ready!”, I said that almost instantly with my eyes sparkling. Cedric looked at me in disbelief and let out a long sigh as he went to the kitchen.

Unlike Cedric’s training, I really looked forward to Lucia’s magic lesson. I just fascinated by how magic worked, and seeing Lucia making the kitchen tools floating around her like they were dancing every time she cooked always amazed me. She wasn’t as good as Cedric in terms of combat skill, but her magic power was extreme. She knew various spells that could easily defeat the enemy or support the others in the fight.

Sword and magic. I had to admit, they were a perfect combination.

It was about an hour later when we heard Cedric voice came from the kitchen: “Dinner’s ready!”.

This was actually one of the times I enjoyed the most. Usually, during the meal we would just talk about usual things, the training or things we could do in the day after the patrols. Sometimes we all talked about our old memories, or the couple told me about their experiences in the battlefield.

Cedric and Lucia didn’t tell me much about themselves, though. Sometimes curiosity got the better of me and I tried to ask the couple more, but always received the same answer: “You will discover it someday”. The only things I knew about them was that they were best friends from their childhood, and they came to this island from somewhere very far away.

Although I only knew very little about them, having them in my life is more than enough.

For them, I really wished that I could give them all the happiness they deserved, with the same love and care they gave me.

“What’s wrong, Ven? Your soup is getting cold.”, Lucia asked, concerned.

“No, it just…”, I said, “I’m really happy to be with you”.

As I finished the sentence, what I got was the embrace of both Lucia and Cedric, with a soft whisper: “So are we.”

And with just that, I closed my eyes, so I could feel the sensation of warmth, not just from their body, but also from their mind and heart.


	4. Side story: The Book

The night came with a starry sky.

In the library, Alyssa sat at the counter, reading a book that had its cover torn out because of the cruelty of time. That book of her, was given to her since she was still a child. A gift from the person who saved her life and treat her as family.

Noticing the sky has gone dark. She carefully put the book back to her bag and prepared to go home. She looked at the herb bag the little boy gave her in the morning and let out a warm smile.

_(You still never change, no matter what happened…)_

She heard the sound of the opening door. Curious as the clock showed the time of midnight, she looked up and said to the figure: “I believe it is too la–”

But the sentence was broken the moment she recognized the figure. A young man, with silver hair ran down to the shoulder. Though his silhouette was different from what she recalled, but the eyes that he gave her could not be mistaken to anyone else.

She thought… that she was dreaming, that the man stood before her was just an illusion. But how could she mistake that it was a dream, that the man stood before her was a mere illusion, when the warmth, the love she felt when his eyes looked at her? She let her tear running down with her mixed emotion of surprised and happiness.

The man hugged her. It was last for a few minutes, until he released her, look at her and said, with a low voice, like he tried to hold back the emotion surging inside him: “It’s good to see you again, Alyssa.” 

“It’s been too long, you know?”, said Alyssa, with a voice of longing, with a little bit of complaint.

That night continued with the dim light in the library…


	5. The unexpected encounter

_I still remember…_

“Take care of yourself while we’re gone, okay?”, Lucia prompted.

Every two or three months some of the islanders had to go the land to trade fruits for other material that they didn’t have on the island. Luna Island had a special fruit with the shape and color of the crescent moon. The fruit had a huge magic power within it, and during a full moon it could be used to cure every kind of disease. It was a valuable item for many mages and alchemists, and could be traded at a high price. But because of that, many monsters and pirates tried to attack the ship to get this special fruit. As the best warriors of the island, Lucia and Cedric had to accompany the crew and protect the ship.

“Don’t worry, Mom. I will be okay!”, I said confidently to assure her.

“And don’t you forget to train every day, kid”, Cedric warned, “The last thing I want to see when we get back is you lazing around.”

“You don’t have to say it, Dad”, I sighed, “I know the consequences and I don’t want to experience them.”

I once sneaked into the training ground where Cedric trained the other islanders, and I could never forget the punishment for the warriors who dare slacked off during his training. Just thinking back, the unusual shape of the punished ones could send shiver to my spine.

“We have to go now, the others are waiting”, Lucia and Cedric said goodbye and left.

“Goodbye! Have a safe trip!”, I smiled sadly, seeing the couple went to the harbor while staying at home.

I really wanted to say goodbye to them properly at the harbor, but that would ruin the others’ farewell. I thought unfair that I was the only one who had to do so and look at the ship from afar, but well, sometimes you have to be matured and think for others.

This time Alyssa would go with the crews to the land so she could find more books for the library. Knowing that Cedric and Lucia would protect her during the travel somehow made my mind at ease, but at the same time it made me felt lonelier.

After seeing the ship, I flew back home and prepared to go to my secret place. It took nearly one month for the crews to get to the land and go back, and staying in the house with other islanders around wasn’t a very good thinking.

It was mid-day by the time I finished reorganizing the house. I created a magic barrier to protect the house, just in case someone tried to break through the house looking for me (a drunkard had done it once).

‘Looks like the magic trainings with Lucia has come to fruition’, was my thought when I checked the quality of the barrier.

Ah… I need to fix the stairs at the library, too…

It was quite frustrating to remove the barrier just to get some tools and then cast it again afterward.

‘Hm… is there any ways to create a magic barrier that only permit specific individuals to enter?’, such thought came to my mind.

Since it would be bad if the islander found me flying to the library, I needed to go there on foot. With the kit set in the bag, I folded my wing and let it wrapped around my waist. It was by no means comfortable, but I was low on the number of options so it couldn’t be help.

There were quite a lot of trees and bushes on the way from home to the library, and with the sun up high, there were lots of shadow, which had become my advantage in traveling without drawing attention. Truth to be told, having to hide from all the villager gave me a little bit of anxiety, but when I thought about it as playing dide-and-seek while everybody except me was ‘it’, it did tickle my excitement a bit.

After outsmarted every islander and successfully went in the library, I took a moment to appreciate the lingering smell of wood and old books before doing what I need to do.

I finished fixing the stairs in no time.

Well… rather than fixing it, all I did was secured it with some nails.

What do you expect from a nine-year-old kid anyway? If you think I was able to do anything just because I have wings, then you are no better than Cedric.

After that, I flew straight to my secret place. I found the place during my exploration in the forest. It was a huge cave, covered by the waterfall so no one has found it yet. Interesting enough, magical beasts in the forest didn’t come near the cave because of the mosses that grew inside. The mosses somehow produced poisonous energy that will harm any creatures, but if they absorbed the light, their poison will be wore off for a certain amount of time. I also discovered that if the mosses absorbed enough amount of light, they would shine beautifully and make the cave looks like a night sky with full of stars.

Inside the cave, there was a pathway that led to a large dome-shaped space. With some modification, I created a pathway to lead the water in and make a pond in the center. Using the water from the pond and light magic, I plant herbs that were hard to find and Luna trees inside the cave. The cave was a perfect hideout for me and it was also my very own secret place. Usually, while staying in the cave, I would use the Luna fruit for my magic training, or drew picture in the cave wall. I also went out to explore around the forest and hunt.

Of course, I could not afford myself to ignore the training, knowing what would happen if I did that.

What I really liked was to fly to the sky in the midnight. The enchanting view of the night sky, with gentle light of the crescent moon and full of sparkling stars always fascinated me.

But that day, I was surprised.

When I came in the cave, I noticed that the mosses didn’t emit their poison anymore. Someone – or something, even – has been here beside me and let the mosses absorbed the light.

I analyzed the mosses’ color and noticed that they have been fed not long ago. Anxious and curious, I carefully walked in. I casted silence spell around me to prevent the sound of my footstep from coming out. I even prepared my sword and ready for a fight.

It was best to be cautious, you know!

When I was near the pond, I hid beside the cave wall and peeked in. There was a figure near the Luna trees. I could only see that the person wore a black coat with the hood on, but I could feel the enormous magic power within that person.

After observing the cloaked figure for a while, I decided to greet them. There was no animosity coming from that person, and I thought I would become a stalker if I stayed like this.

I took a deep breath and let out a long sigh to get all of my anxiety out of my chest, then came in.

“Hello there! It is surprising to find someone who actually found this cave.”

The figure turned around to look at me. At first, that person was startled, but then greeted me with a casual tone: “Hello, little one.”

Things were going pretty well! Although that person was startled, there was no hostility shown. For a second, I was worry about what would happen when they saw my wings.

I studied the stranger for a while. It was a man, quite tall. Because of the hood, I couldn’t see his face.

His clothes, however, was quite unique. I had never seen such material before.

“You are… not from here, aren’t you?”, I asked.

“Well… in one way or another, yes.”, the man replied, a smile appeared beneath his cowl.

“So you must be a traveler, right!? How do you know about this island? Where do you come from? And--”

The man raised his hands to stop the me. “Questions, questions, questions! You are so full of questions that you could pop, little one.”, he grinned.

“I’m sorry…It’s just that I have never been anywhere beside this island. And it has already become so small to me.”

“I can understand that. But I believe we should start with the introduction first.”, the man rubbed his chin, “Now I think about it, we still didn’t know each other’s name, did we?”

“Oh, sorry!”, how embarrassing…

“I’m Ventus, but you can call me Ven”.

“And you can call me Rune.”, he extended a hand in friendship, “It’s nice to meet you, Ven.”

“So do I”, I smiled, shaking Rune’s hand happily.

“Well then Ven, since you are the owner of this cave, let’s make a deal. You let me stay here, and in exchange I will help you with anything that within my ability.”

Of all the thing I expected him to say, he asked me – a child – to make a deal with him. A funny man, he was.

“Deal! I’m very glad to have you company.”, I accepted his offer happily.

_ Thinking back, that was the first person I could call ‘friend’._


	6. The new friend

_Even now, I still don’t know…_

_“60 seconds…”_

I ran through the forest.

The forest in the morning was filled with the rustling sound of leaves. I could barely breath because of the exhaustion, but my mind just kept focusing on the big shadow who was after me.

‘Why did it come to this?’, that was what I had in mind that time.

Feeling anxious as the sounds of footsteps and rattling leaves became closer, I started combining fire and water magic. A grey fog started to appeared from my feet and spread around the forest. After that, I used dark magic to create two copies of myself. me and my copies then ran in three different directions.

“Oh isn’t it just _great_?”, I said to myself as I faced the rock wall. The worst thing was that I couldn’t fly.

With no other options, I hid under the tree’s root.

I whispered to myself while trying to calm my breathing, hoping the figure would chase the clones I created instead.

_ “47 seconds left…”_

But that little hope of mine was quickly shattered as the sound of steady footsteps. I closed my eyes, held my breath and stayed calm.

_ “32 seconds left…”_

Anxious grew within me as the footsteps became louder and louder. I could hear my heart beating in the same rhythm as the steps.

The footstep stopped.

I thought my heart skipped a beat. Cold sweats started rolling down from my forehead. I tried my best to calm myself, to stop my body from trembling, despite knowing that the eyesight was set on my hiding spot.

Did he find out?

A few seconds after, I heard the sound of footsteps again, become smaller and smaller. I let out a small sigh of relief and checked the time.

“8 seconds left and I wi-”.

It was then I felt a sensation of something dropped down to my feet. A dark slime, that was. Not letting me to have the time to react, the creature locked my leg, then pulled me upward, to the man who was sitting on the tree branch.

“My my~”, Rune chuckled, “Looks like I caught a… What should I address you now? Fish? Bird? Ah whatever.”

It was all about the small ‘deal’ we made. While staying in the cave, Rune told me many stories about his adventures and taught me many things. At first, it began with magic, and then crafting, then weaponry…

That day’s lesson was slightly different from others. There was a little disagreement between our ideas, so he set up a tag game to prove his point.

“But still, I disagree with the idea of learning the art of assassination! Why would I want to learn how to kill someone?”

“Teach you to kill? Looks like little Venti has a misunderstanding.” said Rune with a grin, his fingers tapping on the rough surface. “Firstly, assassination is not simply about holding a knife against someone’s neck. Of course, there are many fundamentals necessary for assassination, like knives or shooting, but that alone is nothing more than simple combat art and weaponry.”

Rune freed me and continued, “Let’s make it easier by using our tag game as an example. I can tell that you have get used to feel the bloodlust from the forest beasts and your unique ability to navigate the people around you. But all of that became nothing when you had to face a person such as yours truly, the one who can hide their thoughts and killing intent. Also, for assassins, it is part of the basics to construct throughout backup plans in advance, in case unforeseen circumstance should arise. During the chasing, you created clones and mist in order to fool me, but because you still lack the ability to control your presence, I didn’t have any problems in finding you. When you heard my footstep, you chose hiding from me instead of making any escape plan.”

I was about to protest, but the man stopped me and continued: “And about the thing you said earlier; What I wanted to teach you is not the art of killing someone, but the skills required for it. An exceptional assassin is well versed in all things. The purpose of today’s tag game is to show you what you still lacked. The skill of communication and negotiation, the skill of making backup plans, the skill of studying and adapting the map and geography… That are some basic skills for assassin, but when you look at it, those skills that were thought to take others’ life, can be used for others’ sake.” Rune patted my head and smiled: “The power itself is never the problem, only the people who used it for their purpose is. And knowing you, I believe it was the right decision to teach you this.”

“Oh, and one more thing.” Rune reach his pocket and took out a small herb, a childish grin appeared on his face. “During the chase, I was able to find out this little guy. We can use this to our next alchemy lesson.”

✧✦✧

The lazy sunlight of the late afternoon started to cover the forest. Walking to the secret hideout with the man in black, I couldn’t help but thinking. Rune has mastered many types of skills in magic, weapon art and alchemy, and his way of teaching was unique. In only two weeks since the first day we met, but the things he taught me could take a person lots of time to master. I was even more surprised when knowing he also has the same ability as me, the power to see people’s heart.

And did Rune just said that he was able to spot that super-rare-herb during the chase? Was he a Mr. Perfect or something?

But more importantly, I had a strange feeling every time I spent with him. It was like deja vu, a normal kind emotion when you met a stranger, yet at the same time, a sense of familiar. I knew nothing about him, yet the moment I greeted him, I had a feeling of seeing someone I had known for a long time. But the more I knew about him, more unanswered questions popped out in my head.

A mysterious man that beyond descriptions, he was.

“Something in your mind?”, asked Rune as he found me – who was dumbfounded and not listened to his explanation about the herb.

“…No, it’s nothing”

“It’s about me isn’t it? ‘A mysterious man that beyond descriptions, he was’, you thought?”, Well damned him.

“Hahaha, don’t give me that look.”, said Rune with a shrug, “Well, I believe it is normal reaction for any people to suspect a guy like me.”

He then looked at the mosses in the cave that was giving out the soothing green light for a long time.

“About your suspicions of me”, said the man, “Welp, it’s not like I can stop you, but I will say it’s gonna be a waste of time to think about it. Trust me, I am much closer to you than you think, and those questions of yours will have their answer eventually.”

In the following week, Rune continued teaching me other skills of assassination and alchemy. Throughout the tough training that the man gave me, I was able to feel the surround aura.

With this new skill of mine, not only I could sense the people’s presence, but I could also feel any minimum change of nature surround me.

“With the ability to control aura, you can also read your opponent’s movement and predict their next move. More than that, even if your eyes and ears are crushed, you can still continue fighting. Ambushes become impossible. It’s an indispensable skill!”, quoted from Rune.

…Ok, I had to admit, that last past was sound like something a battle maniac would say.

I felt uneasy when hearing that. But that was not something I would mention.

But aside from that, I has mastered in making a variety of medicine from the herbs I found in the forest. In alchemy, I also learnt how to forge weapons and how to fuse them with magic (only in theory anyway).

The time he spent with Rune was precious. Truth to be told, words wouldn’t be enough to describe my gratitude toward him. But strangely, when I asked for a way to repay for the things he has taught me, the man only smiled and said: “For anything you receive, you must pay it back with an equal price. And the price of my teaching, I have already received.”

In the afternoon of the day when the crews returned, Rune and I bid farewell. “This will be the last day I stay here. But don’t you worried, we will surely meet again, just not in the way you think it would be”. His words were strange, yet at the same time, full of confidence and certainty.

“Oh, and one last thing!” said the man, when I was about to leave. “The world, even thought is quite small, to those who understand it, is quite large”.

✧✦✧

“How ironic, to think that we will meet each other again like this. Rune, you indeed are a damn bastard.”

“I myself did not expect that, either. Kinda like some crappy stories where the author just decided to throw in some plot twists. Nevertheless, you sure had your sweet time, hm?”

“I did what I need to do. The ball has started to roll, and will keep rolling in the path it is supposed to.”

“It looks like the stage is set, and the play has begun. Shall we?”

“Yes, let us go. It is the time for me to take back what is mine…

…Before this world meets its demise”.


	7. The end

_Sometimes, nightmares reside within dreams…_

Crimson, amber and tangerine beams were thrown into the cloudy sky, the beautiful colors embraced the whole island gracefully.

I walked through the forest, my mind was full of questions. Those words Rune told me before the farewell, and those words I heard from Alyssa, no matter how you looked at them, they were completely conflicted each other. But they were the words from Rune and Alyssa – the ones whose knowledge (well, let’s just say) – unfathomable. Was there some kind of connection between them…?

Rune was truly an enigma.

Looking afar, I could spot the ship. My heart was filled with excitement. I couldn’t wait to see Cedric, Lucia and Alyssa. What would their reaction be when they saw me like this? Became more mature and all.

At that moment, when I was still in my thoughts and the excitement still lingering somewhere in my heart, the aura around me changed drastically.

The sky was dyed red.

Rain of meteorites fell from the heaven to penetrate the whole island.

It was the first time I got the feeling of impending doom.

As my heart was stirred with fear, I didn’t waste any movement to spread my wings and flew to the village.

⟪Alerted. The Core of this world has been corrupted.

The world’s distortion is being in progress.

Evacuation pathway constructed. ⟫

A strange voice rang in my head, but at that moment I paid no mind. Simply because I did not have time to even think about it.

With the little time observing while flying, I was able to grasp the current situation: The islanders were in the state of panic. Those meteorites were abnormal; after landing to the land, some strange dark creatures crawl out and started attacking people. The islanders who were on the ship were shocked at the current situation, but quickly regained their composure and started planning the rescue; Cedric and Lucia had left the ship to went out and saved the ones who were being attack by the monsters; Alyssa stayed in the ship and was protected by the crews.

That was good.

The situation might not be favorable, but it could be way worse. Luckily, no meteorites had crashed the harbor and ships, and with the strength of the warriors, all the islanders could evacuate to the harbor and escape through sea route. Believing in Cedric’s and Lucia’s strength, I flew to the farthest side of the village to provide support.

The main objective now is to evacuate the islander.

Did I say that the situation was good? I take that back.

The situation was surpassed any of my expectation, in a bad way.

The entire village burned in a sea of red, yellow and orange and the cries of the people echoed into the night. The dark creatures, with the giant figure and the body temperature of the meteor, they went rampage and burned everything on their ways.

There was a smell lingering in the atmosphere, a smell like charcoal with acrid and bubbling fat.

It was the smell of burnt corpse.

_ Warriors who has lost nearly half of the body, using their last remaining strength just to scream; multiple bodies of burning corpse, to the point beyond recognizable; people who still alive and well, losing all of their hope, just standing at the same spot and watch the scenery before their eyes like waiting for their upcoming end…_

For a moment, I found myself lack the strength to move. I covered his mouth, trying to stop the surge coming from my stomach.

I could feel their fear.

I could feel their despair.

_ I could feel their pain._

For the first time in my life, I truly wished for my ability to disappear.

I just wanted all those noises, _all those pains_, to stop.

But that was not the time for that. I had to stop those dark beasts from rampaging. That was one the moment when “if you think too much, you lose”. So, I steeled my heart and prepare for battle.

The warriors couldn’t stop them so normal attack wouldn’t work. Aside from rampaging, it seemed that they also could use fire magic to launch medium-size fireballs. How much magic did those things have?

But, this could work.

There were four dark creatures in the village at the moment, using magic I created four water ball with the same size as those fireballs and launched at them.

What would happen if you put cold water right into something extremely hot?

Defeating it using steam explosion was quite risky. I was worry about the magnitude of the explosion, but it seemed to work out in the end. Their head was blasted out and luckily, no villagers nearby were not affected by the explosion.

I used the medicine I created to heal the injured ones. Thanks for the new knowledge of alchemy, the medicine healed most of the wounds. Though something magical like recovering lost limbs did not exist, after having most of their wound healed, the islanders had hope.

I asked the uninjured warriors to use the carriage to transfer the rest to the harbor while I secured the road.

Things were going smoothly. Using the same method to attack those creatures, we got to the harbor without any problems. Along the way, we were able to saved more people.

The harbor was saved thanks to Alyssa and other islanders who were capable at using magic. A Light-attribute barrier covered the harbor area, and the weapons was fused with ice magic for warriors to oppose those dark creatures. To solve the matter with such short amount of time, as expected of Alyssa.

As we arrived to the ship, I told Alyssa and the rest about the circumstance. Some people were happy to see their family safe, others’ face paled when they heard about the dark creatures. There were people who were burst into tears, they might be relative with the dead warrior.

“This is all because of that damned monster!!!”

…What?

That was a scream of an old man who was crying, his finger pointed at me.

With just one sentence, the current atmosphere in the ship changed.

One sentence, and all the confusion, all the joy and sadness were turn into one emotion.

Hatred.

It was their hatred, toward me.

I couldn’t feel myself standing, my vision became blurred.

“…That’s right! It was all your fault!!!”

My head was being smashed thousands of times.

“We wouldn’t become like this if he wasn’t here in the first place!”

My heart was being pierced thousands of times.

“You monster! Give me back my son!!!”

_… Why? …_

“I should have killed you before any of this happened!!!”

_… Stop … Please …_

“**DIE!!!**”

_… Was I … really at fault …?_

“Silence.”

It was a small voice. Although it was small, the ship was quickly returned to silence. It was small but cold, and full of power, yet it was a voice I knew.

It was Alyssa’s voice.

“How pathetic! Luna Island is known as a place filled with powerful beasts and people who are brave and strong enough to survive in such harsh environment. Yet before my eyes now are nothing but cowards who assault a little boy just because of things they don’t even understand!”

She then looked at the islanders who just arrived to the ship.

“You should be ashamed of yourself! How can you say such thing to the one who risked his life to save yours?!”

Only Alyssa’s voice was heard in the ship. No one dared to raise their voice. Paying no attention to the crew, Alyssa let out a warm smile and hugged me tightly.

I could feel myself, still trembling because of the shock in her arms. But thanks to her words and her embrace, my heart was at ease, and the pain I received stared to faded away.

“Cedric and Lucia are still at the island, you should go and help them.”, said Alyssa as she let me go “Don’t worry, I will be fine. Now go!”.

Giving her a small nod, I spread my wings and flew to the place where the couple were.

Along the way, I noticed something unusual. The body parts of the slayed dark creatures were gathering up and formed a new being, with much bigger in size and of course, much more powerful. I sped up, trying to swipe away the uneasiness inside me.

From above, I could see Cedric and Lucia fighting with an evolved one. The moment it started to create a fireball, I launched a water ball right into the sphere.

As expected, the evolved monster had higher defense power, but the blast was enough to create an opening for Cedric to finish it.

Cedric seemed staggered at first, but quickly regained his composure and quickly end it.

“Ven! I’m so glad that you are safe!”

“Yo, kid! Didn’t know you could do that!”

Lucia and Cedric were happy to see me, and I, of course, felt the same. The reunion was short, but it was able to make everyone relaxed a little.

Sadly, that alone was still too much to ask. In the next moment, I sense the magic barrier was broken. Alyssa had already used most of her magic power to create that barrier, for it to break down was just a matter of time. Without hesitation, I confirmed the situation with the couple and followed them back to the harbor.

… The next thing I remembered, the ships had already sailed. Seemed like after the barrier broke, a meteorite crashed down near the harbor. One of the three ships had sunk, and the remain decided to set sailed.

No, it was more like the waves forced them to.

Things had become desperate.

The rest of the ships had already sunk, the dead monsters’ parts started to gather and become the evolved-form ones. We – I and the couple, were the only ones left in the island.

_ ‘Is this the end?’_ – That was the only thought I have at that moment.

I looked at Cedric and Lucia. They were looking at each other as they were changing thoughts. After a while, Lucia used magic to teleport us to the forest side of the island.

  
Why did she use teleport magic?

Why? At that time?  
Teleport magic is a type of magic that distort space to create a pathway to the desired place. As a magic that interferes with ⸢Space⸥, it has high cost of magic power. The reason she wasn’t used it to go back to the harbor is because of that.

So … why?

Through the burnt trees, there was a small boat at the shore.

I remembered seeing Cedric made one, but never for once used it.

Had they predicted something like this would happen, and prepared a boat in case of emergency?

But, even so, that boat … was too small.

Please don’t tell me— 

“Ven. Get on the boat. Now!”, Cedric rushed.

“W-What are you saying!? I’m not going to—”

“Ventus, hurry up! We don't have much time left!”, said Lucia.

“What about _you_!? If you are going to stay here, then I will, too.”

I was burst out with anger. _‘Are they serious?’_, my honest thought at that moment. Little did I noticed the presence of the dark creatures that were coming here. One of them has create a magic ball and shot at our direction. I wasn’t fast enough to counter the attack, but Cedric was able to neutralize it by cuting it in half.

“Hurry up, Ventus!!!” Cedric shouted, but I didn’t care.

“Let me fight, too. This time, I will protect you both”

There was a hesitation of the couple. For a moment, they both looked at me. Lucia smiled proudly and embraced me.

“Oh, Ventus. I’m so glad that you have become this strong.”

A dizziness started kicking inside my head.

“But you can’t – no, you mustn’t stay here”.

While half-conscious, I felt like being in put in a rough surface, and a smiling face with a soft voice.

“Don’t you worry. Everything is going to be fine”

And the next thing I knew, was the sensation of a strong wind and the sound of sea waves.

And then

Everything went blank.

I didn’t know how much time had I slept, but it seemed like I wasn’t too far from the island. With just that distance, I wouldn’t take long for me to get back.

A giant magic circle appeared in the sky, right above the entire island.

My mind was screaming the moment I saw that. No matter how you look at it, that magic power was enormous, and everything about it was danger.

‘_I have to go quickly!’_ – I thought that many times, but I body just didn’t move.

I realized that, I was trembling.

The sound of sea waves was faded away, and my head was filled with ringing sound. It took me a few minutes to regain my sense.

What I saw was out of my imagination.

Nothing,

Before my eyes, there was nothing.

I tried to comprehend my thoughts, but failed.

I looked around, but still saw nothing.

I tried to feel the aura surround me, but felt nothing

Sea water dyed by the same crimson color as the sky – the only thing I saw.

The island disappeared, I concluded.

But what about Lucia and Cedric?

There were no other ships nor boats.

They were fighting with those dark creatures.

The range of that magic was wide, Lucia has already used most of her magic energy for teleportation…

_ No…Are they…?_

Such absurd thoughts came to my mind, and before I knew it, darkness consumed everything.


	8. In The Dark

_For I to be there…_

The sound of sea waves had long gone, and only darkness that presented in my sight. I could no longer feel the sensation of the rough surface or the gravity that bound me to the surface.

But, I paid no heed to any of that.

In my mind, there was only one thing.

Lucia and Cedric… They had already _gone_, hadn’t they?

I could never accept that! I kept thinking about it hundreds of times, about any possibility that they could found another boat, that Cedric could defeat all the monster in the island, that Lucia still have enough magic power to teleport both of them out of the island…

But in the end, only _that thought_ remained.

In the end, I couldn’t protect them.  
In the end, I was alone.

I wanted to cry, I wanted to scream, but I couldn’t feel any tears came out from my eyes nor any sounds came out from my lung.

_Pathetic_, I was.

In the end, the only thing I could do was blamed myself, embracing the feelings that kept tormenting my heart.

…Cedric…

…Lucia…

…

…Alyssa?

What happened to Alyssa?  
The ship had left when we arrived there, and I went out the island in the opposite side of the island.

Could Alyssa and others possibly make it?

The twisted emotion in my heart was replaced with determination.

Yes, I need to find Alyssa.

I need to…

…I…need…

I opened my eyes to look around.

After comprehending the situation, it seemed that when the darkness from the island reached me, I was transferred to another place.

I couldn’t believe I passed out. Twice.

So then…Where am I now?

The sky was bloody red with a visible hint of purple and grey mixed into it. The land was also painted with black and red. There was no sign of living.

… The surrounding was way worse than the horrific sense I saw at the island, but somehow, I got used to it. Maybe it was due to the chain of unexpected events(?)

The magic density was too thick…Yeah, I remembered that the reason I fainted was because I couldn’t adapt the sudden change of energy when I was transferred.

I still didn’t know how I got here and what happen to the island, but first, I had to get out of here.

Since I had no idea where I was, so any direction would be the correct one!

Alrighty! Eeny, meeny, miny… This way, then!

✧✦✧

I was lost.

Should I panic? No no, If I were to panic, I should have been like that when I encountered the demon-like creatures about an hour ago.

Seriously! What were those creatures?!

They had the appearance that is the same as the description of demons (which, from one of the fictional books I read). But instead of a wicked monster with some wicked and eccentric mindsets, they were more like some battle maniacs that mindlessly attack anything on their sight.

I encountered 2 of them at the same time. They seemed strong with high magic and combat power but lacked intelligence. Thanks to that, I managed to slay both of them with the dagger I carried.

After a short while, I got used to the magic density in this place.

I was able to feel the aura around me. For that, I was able to avoid unnecessary battles.

Although I was able to kill 2 of those creatures at the time, that was a very tough battle. In the end, I used most of my strength and magic energy and had to rest for around an hour. Moreover, that was the only ones I happened to meet, who knows how much power other creatures hold.

While resting, I only hoped that those two were not the weakest ones here.

After that, I carefully travel around the land.

Since I was exhaust and can’t even feel the aura around me. I chose the route that had the least monster in sight.

But…it was way too few of them.

I started to wonder if I had made a bad choice choosing this. Even though there were only few of them scattered in the area I have been through, none of them on sight was unnatural, right?

Feeling a bit anxious, I tried to feel the aura again.

…Turns out, I could sense a ridiculous amount of magic coming from that direction. No wonder no monster wandered around this place. Only ones who tried to commit suicide would go this way.

Uhm… Should I turn back now?

Well… Even if I went back, I still hadn’t fully recovered yet, so I would be dead on-sight if I went back now.

Staying here sounds good. But what’s the point of doing that!?

And… For some reason, I got a feeling that I should go there.

What is this? Who is telling me this?

…Huh? Is that you, my Instinct?

The same Instinct that helped me survive through many hunts?

The same Instinct that helped me beat those demons not too long ago?

And now, you are telling me to go there?

…

In the end, I neglected all my thoughts and decided to follow my intuition.

After flying about 2 hours, I finally reached the place where the magic was the densest. In front of me was an ancient chamber. The building must have been derelict for ages.

I seriously reconsider my choice now. How could there be a creature that could excess such crazy amount of magic power!?

‘Well… It’s too late to turn back now. Might as well do it till the end’ – that was my thought.

Swallowing my anxiety, I entered the chamber.


	9. Arch Demon

_That was where I met him…_

The sound of my footsteps reverberated through the chamber, as I walked on the dusty floor. The stillness sent shivers down my spine. Inside the derelict building there stood lone structure. Four white pillars with strange symbols craved on it. In contrast to the archaic look of the chamber, the pillars looked new and steady. Silver chains and shackles connected to those pillars gave out a radiant light, fulfilling their lone purpose: to imprison a single person.

I studied the figure for a while. A man, facing downward with his long, crimson hair covered the whole face. Albeit he had a human-like figure, I doubted any normal human would be imprisoned in a place like this.

And my, how much did he want to kill me. Had I taken another step forward, my head would have been rolling on the floor then.

…Should I run? Wait, what’s the point of doing that now!?

OK. Calm down…

Well then, how should I start…?

“I believe this distance is good enough for us to have a conversation without me getting killed”, I said.

The rattling sounds echoed, and the man looked at me. His eyes were covered with old bandage; two vertical red stripes could be seen from the spots that were supposed to be his eyes.

“Oh…What a shame. Just another step and I could have your soul~”, said the man with a smile.

His smile was nothing near ‘gentle’. It was a smile that would spring forth fear from the very root of the soul in the beholder’s heart.

But, somehow, I did not felt fear. For what reason, was something that even now I do not know.

Aside from that…

“Why are you being chained like this?”, I asked.

“Ahh… It was so long that I couldn’t remember the reason. But there is one reason for sure: I was too powerful, too powerful that the angels fear my strength, and seal me with this ⸢Gleipnir⸥.”

Angels…? So, they really exist.

So the creatures I fought before might be demons, after all…

“But even so… why imprisoning?”

“Kid…You are an interesting one, asking questions from someone who just tried to kill you…  
Nevertheless, I shall explain~

Yours truly is a being of absolute, the Arch Demon of Insanity.

For a being such as I, even God would have a hard time killing me.

_Haha_… A bunch of cowards, those angels…

The ⸢Gleipnir⸥ is the chain that exist since the time where only beings that they now call God exist.

The chain of God, known as ⸢Gleipnir⸥. One can say that it’s a “living being”, because it can “evolve” by absorbing the emitted Energy of the prisoner. A nasty thing, I would say.

Looks like I have fed this ‘little guy’ a bit too much~”

Although he said that, he could still emit such immense amount of Energy.

And he was an Arch Demon – The one who rules demons (or so I believed).

“So…How long have you been chained like this?”

“Umm… Let’s see~ 285 years, 8 months and 26 days.”

“I’m impressed that you could actually remember the time.”

“Nope! Just made that up~ Stop counting when it reached 300 years, though…”

Having said that, he started laughing.

Should I make fun of him? Let’s not do that…for now…

“Weeeelll~ I think it’s time for me to ask questions, then.

Why are you here, kid? It’s been a veeerry long time since the last idiot came here to try to steal my soul.”

“For your information…I did not come here to do such thing.

Somehow, I woke up at this place, and I haven’t been here for a day. And the reason I came here… Let just way that my intuition told me so”

“_Hahaha…_Interesting. Truly, I don’t know whether you are brave or just stupid. But for that, you have my praise~.

That aside, from what I heard, this is the first time you’re _here, _right?”

“Yes, is there anything problem?”

“Then it means that your world must be destroyed. But even because of it, for you--”

Wait wait wait! Time out! Stop!

How could he say such thing like it was a petty thing! I couldn’t understand what he just said. What did he mean by ‘_the world?_’

“Hm? You seem confused, kid.

Hah? You don’t know what I meant? What kind of world have you come from!?

...Alright, it can’t be helped. I shall share with you a piece of my knowledge.

… _Ever since the beginning, only nothingness present_

_ But for some reason – a miracle, maybe – something was born from it_

_ Darkness and Light – The Spirits that came to existence at the same moment as the universe._

_ From Light and Darkness, ‘Realms’ were born_

_ The Realm that was born from the Light Spirit was called Paradiso_

_ The Realm that was born from the Dark Spirit was called Etherio_

_ Moreover, after the birth of Light and Darkness, was the birth of Time_

_ The universe, without purpose, started to grow_

_ The creatures born in Etherio were demons_

_ The creatures born in Paradiso were angels_

_ Without purpose, they fight each other, endlessly_

_ Fire, Water, Earth, Wind and Sky… those Spirits were born because of their battle._

_ After fighting for such a long time. They finally reached the final conclusion._

_ Knowing that the Realms could not exist without one another, they decide to create another Realm that has both Light and Darkness._

_ Another Realm was born, the Realm of Chaos_

_ The first generation of Angel and Demon, realized their purpose, returned to their beloved Spirits and maintain the balance of the Realms._

_ The 8 Great Spirits started to create many kinds of creature._

_ The Realms also started to give birth to the new worlds, in order to welcome their creations._

_ And thus, the universe had gained its purpose._

_ … _

And that’s that!”

…Interesting. Unlike other stories about the origin of the world I had read, his story surprisingly lacked God. Although it sounded like a myth, I felt like this story was the one that near the truth.

Not like I cared about it, anyway.

“Well~ Although it’s nothing more than a myth, it was based on the truth.

You see, kid… The place we are at is a part of Etherio.

And you, my little friend… You were from the Realm of Chaos.

Normally, when people die in their world, their soul will be converted to energy and dispersed around the world. There were exceptions for those who have strong intentions engraved in their soul, like the Undead, Ghost, or maybe… Reincarnators.

But when the world in the verge of destruction, those who could hear ⸢The Voice of the Worlds⸥ will be transport to another world, leaving it to fall crumble and fall to the Realm of Darkness. However, for a being who was transport along with the world he lives in, that is something I never heard of.

You maybe are special, or maybe just had a very bad luck~”

⸢The Voice of the Worlds⸥, huh…? I remembered hearing something like the Core of the world was destroyed or something. So that was it.

But the Arch Demon in front of me…

Of course, I still got scared of him, but we couldn’t ignore the fact that he was nice to me.

At least I could say that he wasn’t the wicked-type demon.

And hey, I liked this guy.

And so,

“Umm…Can we be… friends?”

…It was out of the blue – I knew that – and quite embarrassing, to be honest.

I was a kid who only have one friend so far (Rune). Alyssa, Cedric and Lucia are family, of course.

I couldn’t see my face at that moment, but it must be bright red right now.

For a moment, I was glad that he was blind.

“_Kufufu. Fuhaha. Fuahahahahaha!_”

He did it. A perfect three-step laughter. The reward for my attempt to make friend with someone was a laughter echoing throughout the chamber. 

“Heheh… Kid, I like you. You must be very brave, or very stupid to make friends with the demon.

… Since you have the gut to ask a demon that question, I accept! Show me your gratitude!”

Um...Thanks?

Phew… I felt that we may have something in common. So it turned out well...I guess?

Nevertheless, I had made a new (demon) friend!

“Since we are friends, now… How about helping me a little bit?”

Okay... This might or might not go in a good direction...

“I have been sealed here for over 300 years now. From the moment the seal was placed, I wasn’t able to use any skill. I barely managed retaining the ability to communicate and of course, also the ability to kill small fries that come here.

Moreover, my magic power hit zero a long time ago. (Maybe it was because I didn’t stop the flow of my magic energy, though…)”

He didn’t say the last part, but my ability gave me the opportunity to hear his thought.

Let's ignore the fact that he indirectly called his new friend "small fry"...

Honestly… It's not like I was being insensitive at that time. For he was an Arch Demon, it must be embarrassing to confess something like that.

Anyway, back to the main point.

What he tried to imply is to help him, right?

That’s something a friend would do...

But despite that, I couldn’t do what he wanted me to do.

I must go back to my Realm and find Alyssa. Also, from what I just heard, there might be chance that Cedric and Lucia were alive, too.

I wanted to get out of this Realm, but I did not know how. I was about to ask him, but it seemed to be very difficult to do that now…

Is there any way I could do…?

“Have you ever tried to get out before?”

“Well… I had tried many attempts to escaped, but failed.

This seal here imprisoned me by absorbing my magic energy and restraining my physical body. If I want to escape, I have to transfer all of my energy to a new host with a stable Core.”

Hmm… It seemed rather difficult, huh?

“But let me tell you a secret, my friend. I am an Arch Demon, a Spiritual-life-form. In other words, I don’t really need a Core. Also, I’m not attached to this physical body, since I only created it due to the wishes of those who summoned me.”

Again with that incomprehensible stuff. And so, we spoke until I understood.

Gather the magical energy with one’s mind, and then form the flesh. At the moment, the flesh being bound is beyond question, but the mind also cannot affect the surrounding magical energy.

That’s the situation.

Hm… I still wasn’t really understood what he explained. But to sum it up, seemed like even if he was able to leave his body as a spirit, without an offering acting as container, he would scatter with the magic energy and cease to exist.

It’s one way to escape, but as consequence, even if his soul had the chance to rebirth, or even so, made attempt to form a physical body despite his current state, a portion of his soul would be loss or damaged, and he may be 'reborn' as a different person.

…

I actually discovered an escape method for him. It might be dangerous for both of us (mostly for me). But with it, the probability would be more than 0%.

And so, I said to him…

“I have an option. Why don’t you have me as the offering?”

I said it, the craziest thing I have ever said. I started to wonder why I went this far. Maybe because he was my new friend?

“…Hm? Wait, do you mean…Possession?”

How wondrous, he seemed to understand what I meant immediately.

If he possessed me, it would be like one body with two souls.

It was a method with extremely high risk, and one that I myself couldn’t understand, even though I was the one who proposed it. Worst case scenario, based on my understanding of his explanation, is if my Core wasn’t strong enough, both of us would cease to exist. Even if the Core could endure, there would be chance that one of us would dominate the other to gain control of the body.

Even so, because he didn’t have any magic energy left, the chance of my Core being overloaded was rather low.

And he is my friend, so I trusted him.

“_…Fuahahaha_! You must be crazy to consider such thing! How can you actually want to help me, a demon, anyway?”

“Because we are friend, of course.”

Everything became silent after what I said. He wasn’t laughed or said anything, only facing toward me.

“…Interesting. Truly, it’s been a long time since I have this kind of feeling.

I’ll try it. To the foolish one standing before me, I will entrust my everything!”

“But… This comes with conditions, of course.”

“_Hahaha! _You never failed to amazed me. To think that someone would bargain with the demon. Said the price, kid~!”

“Well…Just say that both of us want to survive after this, so can you...Ummm...compressed your power while staying in my Core? You just need to do that until I find a suitable host for you. Moreover, it would be troublesome, were someone to notice your existence within me.

And also, please don’t kill me.”

“Just that? Easily done~! Should we start?”

“Yes, I will be in your care!”

Having said that, the possession ritual began.


	10. Etherio

_It was…an experience…_

I followed the ritual by his instruction.

Because of the deal we made, in order for him to possess me without overwriting my consciousness, he had to gradually transfer his spiritual being into my Core. 

“Come, now. For this ritual, body contact is needed.

For that, just let your hands on my chest.”

Following his request, I did exactly what he told me. From that spot, I could feel the energy gathering and started to go into my body.

I could feel my whole body burning.

My! Who would have thought that possession would be this painful!?

Even without the magic energy, his spiritual energy was immense.

So this is the power of the Arch Demon…

Unconsciousness started kicking. Danger! Danger!

I needed to kept awake, or the ritual would fail.

Just a little more…

…

Phew~! The ritual completed.

In front of me was just nothing more but a body without any sign of life, and I could feel an enormous amount of energy inside me.

It was a success, and both of us survived.

...

I didn't realise that the chamber was _that _quiet without him...

I started to feel lonely.

(Hey kid! Don’t tell me that you were about to cry?)

…Hm? I thought that I just imagined things.

(Hey~! You can hear me, can’t you? Responding would be good!)

Holy Mother of ---! I could hear him inside my head!

Oh well, it was something to be expected… I guessed? We shared the same body, after all.

But how could I respond back, now? The last thing I wanted was to let people see me as a freak who talk to himself.

(Yep, I can hear you? Everything OK?)

(It’s pretty comfy inside you, to be honest. As expected, you have quite flexible Core. I managed to conceal most of my power, but some adjustments are still needed. Anyhow, you got some interesting skills, kid!)

Oh? So I could communicate with him by transmitting my though when I want him to hear it. But wait…

(Oi! You said that I got some interesting skill, meaning that you were analyzed me? Do you not learn anything about privacy!?)

(What? We are friends now – or should I say, soulmates? A little peek won’t hurt, right~?)

He just said something that an old pervert would say. I had a weird feeling about this.

(If you still mind it, you can analyze me if you want~)

(Sadly, I still lack the ability of appraisal. All I can feel at this moment is a mass of energy inside me)

(Welp, too bad for you, then.)

I mentally slapped his smug face at that moment. It’s not like he could feel it, but I still found the urge to do that.

Well then, the next problem is…

(How should I call you from now on? I just realized that we didn’t even know each other’s name. I am Ventus)

(Name, huh… I had one, but that’s not important anymore~)

(How could that not be important!? Hm… Since I can’t keep addressing you as ‘you’ or ‘demon’, I guessed I will give you a name)

(Just don’t kill yourself, okay~?)

Hm? What was the last line supposed to be? Anyway…

(You are the Arch Demon of Insanity… Insanity, huh?

For the one who does not bound by any common sense of the world, from now on, you will be known as ‘Sheridan’)

✧✦✧

It seemed that I lost consciousness. Again.

Seriously, what was wrong with me!?

(You okay, kid? Thought I lost you~)

(What happened?)

(You were almost ceased to exist because of the loss of magic energy. Had I not transferred the magic energy that I emitted ages ago, you would have been a goner)

(Wha-!? But how did that happen?)

(Because you named me, of course!

Naming one meaning deciding one’s fate.

For a name that will be etched to one’s soul, a price has to be paid. For naming me, an Arch Demon, it was supposed to cost your everything. But because we are one now, so it costs your magic energy instead!

But man~ To have to absorb the surround magic energy and convert it to the magic energy you can absorb…It was a lot of hard works, you know~!)

So if I were to name any being, I would loss part of my energy, huh?

He knew that would happen, but chose to ignored it, this guy…

(You should have told me that earlier!!!)

(Hey! It’s you who ignored my warning beforehand, right?)

(Honestly…Nevertheless, thank you, Sheridan. I would be a goner without your help.)

(That aside…What are you gonna do now? It’s been quite a while since you came here, right? Do you need to eat or anything?)

Right, since the problem with rescuing my new friend had been solved, I needed to focus on my next objective.

And to answer his question…

(Luckily, unlike normal people, I myself do not have the need to eat, although I really enjoy food.

And I want to go back to my Realm. My family might still be at somewhere in that Realm, based on what you told me

I don’t know if flying alone will do any good, but–)

(Hm? Flying? But you don’t possess any skill for doing such thing, right?)

(Why do I need it? I have wings.)

(Eh!?)

(Eh?)

((…))

(Wait kid, let we get this straight. You. Have wings, correct?)

(…Yes? Can’t you see it?)

(How can I see that you have wings!? I mean – look at my body! Don’t you see that I’m literally blind!? Even when I’m inside you, I’m only able to appraise your power, not your body construction or your species!)

For some reasons, Sheridan seemed overreacted. I wonder why?

Since I still need to ask him about my world’s destruction, I decided to tell him about myself and the things happened up until now.

…

…

…

(And that’s the thing!)

I basically just told him the long-story-short version of my life.

(Hm… I have something in mind, but that can be save for another time.

About your description of when the world end… There is a high chance that a being who possess the power that can compare to High-classed Demon did it)

(Wait…Do you mean…Someone purposely destroyed my world?)

(That possibility is almost certain.

Those dark creatures you mentioned are ⸢Disaster Dolls⸥, they are creations of High-level Summoning magic. Perfect toys for some lowly demons to play with, but quite deadly for normal people.

The giant magic circle that you saw was known as ⸢Calamity⸥, that could destroy anything in its range. Without High-class barrier with Holy-attribute, not a single dust will be left.

Also, you said that the Core was destroy, based on ⸢The Voice of the Worlds⸥

A world’s Core could not be destroyed because of any natural disaster, so I can say that someone has destroyed your world.

But… for the one who did it, that person must be a ‘World traveler’ or ‘Otherworlder’ with the knowledge of your world. Can’t neglect the possibility of a group of people doing that, though.)

I couldn’t believe it.

I already accepted the fact that the world has already been destroyed, but to think that it was by the will of someone…

And Cedric and Lucia…they had already…

…No… I need to calm down.

Blindly hate someone would lead me to nowhere.

I had to stay calm, no matter how much I wanted to destroy them.

For the time being, I needed to hold back my fury, and only toward it to the ones who at fault.

Next thing was…

(_Hm_… Go back to your Realm, huh? That is possible, but not at the moment.)

(Why?)

(For us Demons, we could only go to your Realm by answering the wish of those who called us. You might at least know the story of people making contract with the demon, right?

Well, Arch Demons like me can travel between Realm easily, but I couldn’t use it now, because I has been sealed for so long~

But you, you are special!

Because you got here from the Chaos Realm, you somehow possess the ability to travel between worlds. Although it is like a degraded-version of Realm travel like of the Arch Demons, with my help, you could go back to your Realm.)

(Oh…I see now. I should consider it as luck, then)

(Who knows? But that also is the problem.

You already possessed the ability, but don’t have enough power to withstand it. The you at the moment would become a lump of meat the moment you went back to your world)

(What should I do, then?)

(Raise the capacity of your body, of course! For now, go outside and fight some demons! You have already won in a 1-against-2 battle, you would be fine~)

Since he was the only who with me, I guessed I had no other choice.

(Well then, it’s “Gotta kill them all” time~!)

✧✦✧

I thought I was gonna give up.

How many demons had I fought? …30? …40? I seriously lost count.

Based on Sheridan’s explanation, the ⸢Lesser Demons⸥ were just a lump of power that were born from the Spirit of Darkness.

They had consciousness, but they themselves did not know it.

Without any purposes, they fought each other in order to evolve.

If they were killed…they would just become energy that dispersed to the atmosphere and reincarnated somewhere else after that.

Well…Although they lacked will, they still freakily dangerous with only their instinct. Compare to them, those ⸢Disaster Dolls⸥ were just trash.

And the juiciest part was that…

Apparently, the 2 ⸢Lesser Demons⸥ that I fought in the beginning were _indeed_ the weakest ones around this area. They weren’t even the type of demons that strong enough for Sheridan to remember their race’s name. When I point out the demons that resembled them to him, albeit not able to see his face, I could feel a sense of disappointment coming out from him.

What did you expect from a kid, anyway!?

There were times when I fought with very strong ones, too. I tried my best to keep it to a 1-on-1 battle. I also secured an escape route for myself, just to be safe.

Man, I wondered how did I survive through that time?

Nearly 3 weeks had passed since the day I began to slay the demons. Every day I worked myself until my body reach the limit, and after that I would come back to the chamber and absorb the magic for recovery. Sheridan also helped me with the fatal wounds so it was OK?

After naming Sheridan, the magic density decreased drastically. Thinking back, it was dangerous, truly.

But, hey! Let’s be optimistic!

Because of the painstakingly training, I seemed to get a lot stronger now. At the moment I could still survive in a 1-against-4 battle with strong ⸢Lesser Demons⸥! 

The capacity of my strength and magic was also increased greatly, too. How good is that!?

(_Fuhaha!_ Kid, you got potential. I can’t way to the day I get a new body and have a match with you.)

…I would pretend that I did not hear that.

It was dangerous! I should be careful in the future.

(Hm… Good! I think you can go back to the Chaos Realm, now!)

(Really!? What should I do, now?)

(Nothing, really. Just leave the rest to me!)

My hands started to move on their own!

Oh wait… Sheridan took control of my hands…

I need to get used to this, soon…

Magic circle appear with just his hand moment, and the magic energy started to flow vigorously. After condensing the magic energy into one spot, a spatial gate was created by him.

(Let's go to the Realm of Chaos, shall we?)

Giving a mental nod to the demon, I entered the gate.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

“Congratulation in entering God class.”

“What do you want?”

“Just a small greeting to a newbie. So, how do you feel?”

“Like shit. To think I will become the likes of you.”

“And you are staying inside the thing who triggered that. Why not use it as your vessel?”

“And why should I?”

“Nothing to do with me anyway. Anyway, since you become a God, why not become my kin?”

“…It’s not like I can refuse it, can I?”

“As expected for an old acquaintance, you catch up well. There are benefits for both of us, after all”

“…And what exactly do you want me to do?”

“For the time, just do what you want. I’m also interested in _that_.”

“…”

“Well then, until our next meeting. Please, entertain me.”


	11. Nothingness

T_he more you hurt yourself for something, the more it dears to you…_

A dark blanket, contrasting with blacks and yellows, and the occasional white, which is shaped as a circle and sometimes a crescent. There are stars which dot the blanket in an intricate pattern.

If someone who once dreamt about being in space, please let yours truly – the one who was experienced it – describe it in one world: Horrible!

It was cold and dark, and I could hardly breath. There was no sense of gravity, and I couldn’t grasp at anything.

I thought I was going to be in a panic.

(We’re in space~)

Welp, a certain someone was happy at that moment.

(Wa–No I’m not! Why do I need to be excited to such trivial thing!?)

(Whatever you say… So where are we, now?)

(In space, but not any normal space. The ⸢Nothingness⸥, to be precise. The place we are now at the moment is the bridge between worlds. From here, we can view a veeerryy small fragment of the worlds.)

(You mean…stars? Like ‘celestial bodies’?)

(It’s true, but at the same time it’s not. “World” is nothing but a concept created by creatures live in it, after all.)

Okay…?

But I have to focus on my main objective first. You lose if you think too much about it.

(So…How can I entered a world?)

(Easy. Just come near a world and you will know what to do!)

Get near to the world, huh… but how?

It’s not like I could casually walk in space, right?

(I heard that self-reliance is virtue. Now you heard it, too~

Figure it out yourself. We have infinite amount of time, after all~)

(We have?)

(Yes~ time! Time is relative, and in different worlds, there are different time. But here? No no, there is no time, because this – This is the ⸢Nothingness⸥!

Time doesn’t flow here simply because it does not need to. Why do we need time in the place there is nothing? But that is interesting, right? Because we _are_ here.

For us who are in the timelessness, the worlds seem like stopping. The ⸢Nothingness⸥ is the bridge between worlds, after all.

Now, take your time to learn, and to think. To find a single person in this vast multiverse is even harder than to find the needle in the bottom of ocean. But time can wait~)

Sheridan surprisingly boasted some incomprehensible things again.

But from what he just said, time in different worlds flow differently, right?

What about… between Realm?

(_Hm_? Yeah, same things happen, too. The Spirit of Time exists in every Realm, after all.)

Things started to become troublesome…

I needed to find Alyssa, quickly.

But where should I head?

_How_ should I head?

Anxiety almost overwhelmed me.

No no! Focus Ven!

Like Sheridan said, I have plenty of time in here.

I need to think where I should head!

Think!

I somehow managed to move in space. It’s like trying to swim while staying in the bottom of ocean.

At first try, by controlling the flow of energy emitted from my body, I could create a small wave that guide me to the direction I want.

After that, I imagined myself flying and transferring the energy to my wings.

The result: I could move freely in space, then.

(You actually did it? Scary~ Stay away from me, freak!)

What’s that kind of respond!?

I just realized that Sheridan enjoy watching me struggling.

Seriously…

Anyway, first objective ‘How to travel’ accomplished!

Next would be…where?

This was the hardest part. Up until then, I still had no idea where my world was and where Alyssa could possibly be.

I got nothing…

…

Something came to my mind.

(Hey Sheridan! What happened when the world is destroyed?)

(…Hm? Well, when a world is destroyed, the space that covered that world will be sucked into darkness. Any living creature who can hear ⸢the Voice of the Worlds⸥ will be transfer to nearby worlds, I think. Basically speaking, it turns into somewhat quite similar to the ⸢Nothingness⸥.

Similar, but not the same. It won’t cause any distortion in space, and time still flow in it.

Soon, a Core will be created around that space, and a new world will eventually be born.)

Aside from those long-line explanation. I got what I need.

When the world got destroyed, the energy will be dispersed to the surround.

That also meant that it would left a ‘hole’ in space.

This might work out.

(_Ha!_ You must be crazy to do what I think you are gonna do, kid~)

(This is the only way. Both of us know it, right?)

Sheridan seemed to guess what I was thinking immediately.

But it was really the best way.

Focusing, I started to feel the Energy of the surrounding worlds.

Hurt.

My head hurt.

I thought it was about to explode from receiving too much information.

Never had I processed such immense amount of information at once.

(You okay, kid~? Don’t die on me, now~)

You’re not helping!!!

…

‘I need to do it. Again' – so I thought.

…

Second try. Still painful.

…

Third try. Starting to get used to the pain, expand the navigating range.

…

Fifteenth try. The range has expanded greatly. Still painful.

…

Thirty-seventh try. Tired.

Just. Tired…

…

I finally found it.

Whilst feeling the pain that tormented my mind, in the sixty-third try, I finally spot an anomaly in the universe.

Like a hole in the blank page, I could not feel any energy in that certain space.

It might be where my world was.

But… I’m so tired…

(Congratulation in finding it! Now rest and leave it to me. You earned it~)

In the blur of my consciousness, I could feel myself drowning in a pool of energy.

It was the energy that Sheridan emitted.

(Hey, kid~! Can I ask you one thing?)

Sheridan’s voice echoed in my mind.

(…What…is it…?)

(Why do you have to try so hard just to look for a single person?)

(…Why…? Because…she is dear…to…me…)

Drowsiness started kicking in. I closed my eyes and let myself drifted by the flow of Sheridan’s energy.

✧✦✧

Ghastly orange grin, tearing through the verdant woodland.

Unfettered flames, devouring hungrily, licking and lapping at the coppice, twisting and swaying in a dance without rhythm.

Blackened bodies, charred bones, unsettled souls, snatched before their time.

Screams and cries echoed throughout the hollow forest.

I was there, standing, watching the scenery.

Why am I here?

…That’s right. I’m looking for Cedric and Lucia.

But I can’t move.

The unpleasant smell of bubbling fat and charcoal started to fill in the atmosphere and ran into my nostril.

The screams and cries stopped.

The sky blackened and the ground started shaking. I could hear the forest beasts’ roars from afar.

Dammit! Why can’t I move!?

2 shadows appeared in the midst of fire. They were the shadows of Cedric and Lucia.

“Over here!”, I tried to scream. But no voice came out.

No good, I need to get to them.

Move! I’m begging you! Please, move!

Luckily, the couple noticed me and headed to my direction.

A meteorite that no one yet to notice crashed down, rose up a wave of dust.

After that, they were nowhere to be seen.

Only a trail of red liquid, coming from under the giant sphere.

Alone in the midst of hollow forest, I stood there.

Silently tears rolling down my cheeks, as the scream, the laugh, the mockery became louder and louder. 

I was crying even when I woke up.

For the first time after the disaster, I slept.

And for the first time in my life, I had this nightmare.

(You OK, kid?)

(…Yes, I’m fine now…)

Albeit it was the first time, I knew.

Knew that it was just a distortion of what really happen – a product of memory and imagination.

And I knew – _deadly _certain, for sure – that, these painful memories mixed with the feeling of regrets would come back and haunted me for a long time…

(Anyhow~ We are here! The place where your world ‘supposed to be’)

Hearing that, I open my eyes. Contrast with the surrounding where one could still see dim light, in front of me was a hollow space. It was darker than dark, and no lights were able to escape through it. But strangely enough, it was only there. The darkness did not spread out further, devour any other lights.

(This is what happen when a world die. Fascinating, isn’t it~?)

(I believe that we don’t have the same taste of…things. But thanks for getting me here. I hope that this is a right place)

(I am certain. Naturally, this phenomenon only occurs once in thousands of years. It’s rare to see more than one got destroy in the same time)

(But someone destroyed my world. Is there any chance that it happens about the same time as when a world got destroyed?)

(_Hahaha. _No worries, my friend. While you were sleeping, the almighty me has check whether there was any other world die in this tiny universe.

Also, there is a world has hold lots of life energy not too far from here. Probably the world where your family could be.

Praise me for doing such thing just for you!)

(Thank you for helping me.)

Laughter can be heard inside my head. He seemed pleased.

I looked back to the blank space where the world I once lived in supposed to be.

The pain and suffer I had to gone through…

The cruel fate that has bestowed to Cedric and Lucia…

The person who could do such thing…

Keeping all those thoughts in mind, I went to the world where Sheridan lead me.


	12. The town of the lost

_A little peace of mind will be good…_

After we entered the gate, it didn’t take too long to see that we were in a narrow alley. From the look of it, people rarely wandered around here. The pile of craters in front of me block the road so it was a dead end, one more reason for the people not to go in here.

As expected of Sheridan, he calculated the perfect spot to land! It would be very suspicious to see someone suddenly jump out from the middle of a black spatial gate, right?

So then…What should I do?

I mean, I did some pretty amazing things like navigating part of the universe or traveling through the ⸢Nothingness⸥, but that did not help the current situation I was at that moment.

…You don’t understand what I’m saying? Do I have to point it out for you!?

First, language.

When you traveling through a different land or country, the most crucial thing is communication. Being in a totally different world makes that even more important.

For me, that was not the hardest part. With the ability to read people’s mind, what I ‘see’ is not the language they formed in their thought but actually, one can say, their ‘intent’. In other words, I can still understand what they want to say to me in some extent. But that most likely end up in one-way conversation, which is quite inconvenient.

…Hm? Why I and Sheridan could understand each other when we just met?

It’s quite complicated to explain, but simply put, when I talked to him, I also transferred my ‘thoughts’ signal to him. For what was the mechanism behind this, well… let just say that something like “words that have meanings can be conveyed through magic” was natural.

Can it be used with normal people? Nope. For it to be success, the people must exposed themselves to the area rich in magic energy, and must be able to feel it, and comprehend it like breathing.

But I digressed.

Next, me.

I was different from the rest of the islanders, and my wings were the thing that made they detest me.

That was also one of the reasons why I was afraid to fly outside the island.

(Hm? Is there no way for you to conceal your wings?)

Well… There _was_ a way.

It wasn’t like I could make my wings disappeared, but for the current situation, it was better than not doing anything.

Just like the time when I played the tag game handicapped or when I needed to sneak around the island without drawing attention, I folded my wings around my waist. My wings embraced me tightly and were covered by my shirt.

Of course, I needed to sew the two holes in my shirt’s back. I plucked some feathers from one of my wings and teared it apart, and continued doing so until it became something resemble the thread. I knitted them together to make it long enough for sewing.

There was a small dagger in my small bag. It had turned into something similar long needle after a battle with the ⸢Lesser Demons⸥. It was a good thing that I didn’t throw it away. I broke it into smaller pieces and using fire magic to concentrate heat in one end of a fragment. With my current power, it was far enough for the piece to deform and turned into a thin needle. I use the other piece of the needle to pierce through that end in order to create a hole, and use water magic to cool it down.

Well, the needle was handmade and the whole process – including fixing my shirt – only took nearly an hour, so for me it was quite remarkable.

Luckily, magic functioned normally in this world.

It was only briefly fixed, but with the brownish color of my shirt, people might not find me suspicious.

After getting myself prepared, I walked out of the dark alley.

It was around noon by the time I went out.

Outside of the narrow alley was a crowed area. People wandered from places to places. Laughter and chatter could be heard from anywhere. They seemed to trading the meats, plants or maybe accessories with some small objects made of copper, silver and gold.

Based on what Alyssa once told me, it might be what people called a ‘market’, and those small objects could be understood as ‘money’.

Back in the island, we collected vegetables from the forest or cultivated them ourselves, and hunting forest beasts and fishing for foods, so I couldn’t help but feeling astonished at the new concept.

Part of the astonishment I had was also because I didn’t notice all the noises or thoughts when I was back in the alley. But paid no mind for it, I started wandered around the market.

Just when I conscious about the people, all of their thoughts entered my mind. It was indeed much more than what I had to receive when I was in the island, but I didn’t feel like being overloaded by the amount of information at all. Maybe it was because of the experience when I was in the ⸢Nothingness⸥?

If that was the reason, I guessed I had to thank Sheridan.

(_Hahaha!_ Then worship me, kid~)

…I take that back what I just said. There is no need to thank a guy like him.

Anyway, back to the main topic.

The people seemed to notice me and look at me in the strange manner, and they immediately averted their gaze whenever I started to look at them.

Did I stand out too much?

Anxiety started craving in my mind. I sped up, seeking for a way out.

In the midst of the crowd, a big hand grasped my left wrist and pulled me up. The next thing I knew that I was facing a giant.

No wait, to call him a giant was a little bit extreme, but the guy in front of me was indeed big, at least his height was twice – actually, make it _thrice_ – as mine. Albeit he wore clothes that could be call ‘casual’ compare to other people in the market, but the big sword behind his back was something I couldn’t neglect.

With brownish hair that shaped like a lion main and intimidating-looking eyes, He looked like a predator that was on the hunt.

To be more precise, he had a scar ran across his left eye, and there were scars in his arms, too. Overall, his entire being was something that could make any innocent children cried.

Not meant to be rude here, but when I remembered the memories with those demon, he seemed kind of… cute.

He looked at me up and down and started grinning. I couldn’t understand what he said to me, but through his mind I could barely understand that he was looking for someone like me.

‘This is dangerous’

The moment I thought that, a water ball was created in my free palm.

Without any hesitation, I aimed for his face.

He reflectively used his other hand to grab my wrist. Maybe it was the first time he saw the magic I used, so he just acted based on instinct?

Because of it, I didn’t stop there and launched the water ball in my palm at him.

For a moment he was surprised and lost focus, his hands tightened, but that was enough for me. With his vision became blurred and my hands locked, I used both of my knees and aimed straight to his chin. With that direct hit, no matter how strong he could be, that was enough to give him a knock out.

Because of the commotion that he (not my fault) created, the crowed started to spread out. They look at me nervously and whispering things to each other.

Don’t look at me like that! It was his fault in the first place!!!

…Eh? This guy here is one of the guard?

Moreover, he is the strongest warrior in the town?

A kid who could beat him is super abnormal?

…Base on the fragments of their thought, looks like _I _was the bad guy here.

(Well done, kid~ You are a criminal now~!)

Once again, Sheridan. YOU. ARE. NOT. HELPING!!!

…Welp, we have heard enough, and ’tis time for us to bid you adieu!

Just when I about to made my escape, a woman who seemed to be at her middle age walked out and blocked my escape route. She also wore casual clothes, with small sword tucked in the belt around her waist. Was she one of that guy’s friend?

“Stop!”, she shouted.

It was quite a loud voice, enough to altered all the whispering in the whole area. But one thing came right up in my mind after hearing that.

She was saying that. In my language.

“From that expression, you are indeed one of Luna island’s people.”, she said.

“How-?”

“I know you have a lot of questions, but I need you to listen to me first. We were asked to look for you in this town. It is a request from one of the islanders named Alyssa.”

So they knew Alyssa. But wait, if she said ‘we’, that means the guy lying in the ground before me was indeed her companion…

“Seems like you have calm down a bit. Please come with me to where she is. And also, can you heal him for me, please? You do know healing magic, right?”

Since she asked me nicely (and I was the culprit here), I gave a nod and cast healing spell on him. It wasn’t magically healed him completely, but at least the bruise in his chin disappeared and he woke up the moment the healing process completed.

✧✦✧

The three of us went out of the market and head to the place that seemed to be the residential area. Similar figures started appearing in my sight. Along the way, I asked Sara – the lady who guided me – few questions and received brief answers.

From what she told me, this world was call ‘World for the lost’. Right to its name, the world was created for ones whose world died for any reason. The answer for how this world was created and how people from the dead worlds come here until then was a mystery. For ‘World Travelers’, it was also a stop where they could exchange goods and relax.

When I asked how long it had been since the islander come here, they exchanged look to each other, and the next thing she told me was quite unexpected.

It had only been a week since all the villager come here.

I somehow glad when I heard this. Since time flows differently in different world, I was quite worried when asking that, since I stayed in Etherio for around a month.

“During the first day, when everyone was in the state of panic and confusion, Alyssa was the only one who remained calm and consoled others. She was also the one who create the magic charm to translate our language. To be honest, I was amazed by her knowledge.

It was this morning she asked us to find you. At first, I didn’t believe her when hearing your description.”

_‘Please looking for a boy with long black hair and blue eyes. He has a face just like of a girl and two vertical scars under his eyes.’_

…

As expected for Alyssa, she really could handle any situations.

Aside from my description, that is…

Also, Leo – The guy who was still grumpy about the incident earlier – forgot to bring his translator around, so he couldn’t make me understand what he tried to say back then.

“I heard from Alyssa that you were quite a fighter, but to that extent…

And you look cute, too. That’s cheating, you know!?”, Leo kept complaining along the way.

“It was mainly because you forgot the magic charm Alyssa made for you”, complained Sara.

The three of us entered a small house. After the loud cracking noise of the door was a sweet aroma coming from the kitchen.

Alyssa turned around and smile, “Hello, Ven.”

Words wouldn’t be enough to describe the happiness in my heart the moment I saw her. Without saying anything, I ran and gave her a warm hug, like I always did. She embraced me tightly, and I could feel the warms that I always felt when hugging her.

So she truly was here.

She truly was okay.

“Alyssa…”

“Shh… You don’t need to say anything. I’m glad that you are okay.”

After a while, she let go of me and greeted the two who were waiting at the door, “Thank you so much for helping me”.

Leo clasped his hand behind his head and laughed, “It was no big deal. We should thank you for helping me making those potions”.

“That was no big problem, truly. There were a lot of injured warriors when we came here, and I’m glad that we have the right tools and herbs to make potion for everyone”

Happy chatters were exchanged between the three. After a while, Leo looked at me and said, “But this kid here is quite something, you know? I didn’t expect him to be that good in combat.”

“It was also because you were too reckless, Leo. You forgot the charm Alyssa gave you and still pulled that kid up high while he was still confused. Normal people would even cry the moment they saw your face in that state.”

I voiced my agreement with Sara’s statement. Although he didn’t have the demonic aura surround him, people who saw him the first time would have the impression of him as the-guy-who-only-smiles-when-swinging-his-sword.

But once you knew him, you would see that he was actually a nice guy.

And a shocking fact came to me in the middle of conversation: They were actually siblings.

‘This world is full of surprise’, that was what I thought when I heard that.

Alyssa didn’t ask anything about Lucia and Cedric. Maybe she knew the moment she saw me like that.

That night, I stayed at the siblings’ house with Alyssa. The residential area had been filled up with new people, so some islanders have to stay at others’ house.

“That couldn’t be help, no? It’s not like we could possibly let you sleep on the road”, said Sara.

For dinner, I suggested myself to be the cook. At first, the sibling felt quite troubled, but after having the taste of Heaven (my cooking), they happily (and obediently) sat on the dining table the following days.

I was one of the best cooks right after Lucia in the family – better than Cedric of course, and that was something I could be proud of.

Things might be different from what it used to be, but I’m sure that we will have a new life in this town.

_Little did I know that it was nothing more but a wishful thinking._


	13. Farewell

_So peaceful…Yet painful…_

I didn’t know if it was because of the time flow was different, but three months had passed in a flash.

The islanders had gotten used to the new life, but they still kept their distance from me. Not something I cared about too much, anyway.

In the first month, I studied the common language in the town and learned the basic rules of governance and merchandise from texts. With the ability to read people’s mind, it wasn’t a difficult task. Although with Alyssa’s charm, communication wasn’t something I need to worried about, but learning their alphabet had its own merit.

There were people after arriving to this world became fascinated in the theory of connection between works and spend all their life studying about it. By the time we arrived here, tons of books were written and stored in the town’s library.

Different books contained different theories of people from different worlds. There were books written in their language from the previous world, but there were books written in the language of this world.

In the previous two months, I analyzed every theory about world and souls, and with the help of Sheridan, I could have a brief understanding.

First, what is a ‘world’?

Some theories share the same ideas as mine back then, that a ‘world’ is the same as a ‘planet’. But there were theories stated that ‘world’ is the aspect of a certain living creature. It was one of the theories I found…ridiculous at first, but the more I thought about it, the more it made sense.

Human or every creature, they possess limits of sight, limits of hearing, limits of touch and limits of feelings. With all those combined, we unconsciously created our own world. With that in mind, the ‘world’ we lived in is just a recognition we all shared.

They were from the collectivism and individualism viewpoint, so even though both are quite contrast to each other in some extent, but both are correct.

_“The world, thought is broad, to people who know it, is very narrow.”_

_“The world, even thought is quite small, to those who understand it, is quite large.”_

I guessed I could understand a litter better what Rune and Alyssa said to me back then.

…There was something creeping in my thought at that moment.

The first time I met Rune, even when he concealed most of his power, the remain energy he emitted was enormous to the point I myself found it ridiculous.

And for a stranger, he knew me too well.

Moreover, no matter how I tried to recall, I couldn’t remember his face. Highly there was a chance that he altered my memories for the whole time.

…Could he be the one who destroyed my world?

That question had been in my mind the moment I set foot to this world.

Yes, he had strange clothing that I couldn’t find anything about it in the island’s library, and he possessed tremendous power that could compare to an Arch demon. No doubts that he was capable of doing something like that.

But then…Why?

If he was the one who wanted to destroy the world, then why he stayed at the cave?

If he wanted to destroy everything in the island, then why bothering teaching someone like me?

…

In the end, all I could go was guess.

Truly, an enigma he was.

…

Guessing alone wouldn’t work.

He said that we would meet each other soon. Because it was he the one who said it, I thought it would probably happen.

When that happened, I would ask him.

If he said no, then he wasn’t the one.

But if he said yes, then I will fight him with all I have.

If he, the one who possessed such power, actually said yes…

…I had to prepared myself for the possibility.

But I digress, let’s come back to the main topic.

There were also books that was written about soul. Since I have Sheridan with me, that was also one I needed to look at.

So, what is a soul?

Firstly, let’s discuss about Energy first.

Everything that comes to existence is consisted of energy. To be precise, two types of energy that can be easily recognized were Life Energy and Magic Energy. There were records about world that said magic didn’t exist in their world, and magic was defined as something related to false religion and dark art, but I think that it is due to various reason like poor essence of magic energy or people’s inability to sync with the magic energy in their world. People’s ‘belief’ of ‘magic’ is actually one of the fundamental factors for them to use it.

A soul is basically a combination of both life and magic energy.

Not limited to humans, every creature has a soul.

“The brain’s job is just recording information, and the heart is nothing more but a battery that makes the body functions. Soul, however, is the one that create personality and emotion.”

That was a theory that was written in a book I read.

Then, does the energy directly engrave the information onto the soul? That’s not it.

Hypothetically, there’s a ‘core’. We can’t see it, touch it, or maybe even feel it. But it exists, somewhere within us.

Then, there’s the ego – or the will, stored in that ‘core’. This, is where all the information, mostly memories, is engraved on.

And so, in conclusion the crystalized energy encases that ‘core’ and becomes the soul.

Conveniently, the core’s placed was right within the heart, or so the theory stated.

Moreover, there was something that shared throughout most of the books.

Overall, there are three layers of soul.

Cloaking themselves in their souls, the most brittle existence, the astral bodies.

Establishing themselves in power, spiritual bodies.

Entities that have a direct connection to this world, material bodies.

The soul is the entity itself, there is no “being” outside of it. Any kind of consideration requires the presence of an astral body. Of course, should it be based on astral body alone, the being will dissipate into thin air. So a medium to record the memories is needed–spiritual body.

However, spiritual body preserves kind of like virtual memory, hence cannot serve as a permanent medium. That comes to the flesh. So for those with tempered souls, should they even sustain brain damage, recovery of certain memories becomes possible.

And, there are monsters who live with only a soul, usually referred as ghosts. They are being that don’t have material body but was able to use the magic energy as a supplement to maintain their existence. That kind of being, however, is inferior to the rest.

…So that was what Sheridan afraid of. With the chain degenerated his mind and magic power, had he tried to escaped his material body, his astral body could still be dispersed because of the dense and chaotic magic energy surround him.

Moreover, that magic chain ⸢Gleipnir⸥, even though it was fed up with his magic power, no one knows whether it actually able to absorb his soul. So Sheridan had no other choices but to secured his soul inside his body.

(Booring! Don’t you have anything better to do!?)

Sheridan said that while rolling on one of the tables.

Oh yeah, I forgot.

It was about one month ago, Sheridan appeared out of nowhere.

I didn’t know how it worked, but somehow by splitting part of his spiritual body outside, he could make contact to the material world, or so he said.

Let just say that he existed between the material world and spiritual world. He existed, but at the same time he didn’t. Saying that he was a ghost might be appropriate.

Only I could see and hear him or feel his presence due to me sharing the same ‘core’ with him, and he couldn’t make any real impact to the physical bodies.

To the physical bodies, no. But, somehow he could alter other human’s mind state.

Well…At first I was quite shocked, but after that everything was normal. I had already accepted that as a part of my daily life.

After reading books at the library, I went to the herb shop. It was almost part of my daily routine, to be honest. There were new kinds of herb that didn’t exist in the previous world, but it didn’t take too long to analyze them. After settle here, my main job was to assist Alyssa in making potions.

Aside from that, I sometimes practiced martial art with Leo.

To be precise, he was the one who challenged me.

It seemed that he couldn’t accept the fact that he was beaten by a child (me). A man must have his own pride, after all.

Sara was helping in production of herbs and other ingredients, so I sometimes helped her.

Yeah,

It would be great if things could stay that way.

✧✦✧

While I was checking herbs in the shop, the door was roughly slammed open. It was Leo, panting heavily.

‘What’s the big rush?’, I thought that the moment I saw him.

“Hah… hah… I was looking for you…”

Not waiting for him to get his breath, I rushed out the store, realizing that I forgot to get the herbs I need but then dismissed that thought right away.

The house was still the same as the first time I came here.

There was a faint scent of herb and steam.

After regaining my breathing pace, I went up to the second floor.

The dim sunlight of the afternoon can be seen through the window.

In the room, Alyssa was lying in the bed, with her back leaning on the wall.

(Her life energy is dimin–)

** _ (_ ** ** _SHUT.UP_ ** ** _)_ **

I smiled and greeted her, just the same way I always did.

“Good afternoon, Alyssa”, I said.

“Good afternoon, Ven”

She replied with the smile. The smile that she always had.

At that moment, many images of her in the past overlapped with the present moment.

No, Ventus. Just smile. Stay calm.

I sat on the chair right next to her, the smile carved in my face. I wanted to say something, anything to her, but my mind couldn’t think straight.

“Have you finished making the potion for today’s stock?”, she asked.

“Yes, I made plenty. It might be enough for the rest of this week.”

“_Haha_, you have become good at this.”

“It’s because I have a good teacher right here!”, I tried to laugh, but the sound could not come out, instead lingered in my throat. The fragrance of herb was suffocating.

“Oh hush, you will make the old me blush!”

“I’m just being honest with myself, that’s all.”

……

…

“I still remember the first day when I first saw you”, said Alyssa as she looked at the sky through the window, her gaze solemn.

“The ground was shaking, and white light filled a part of the island even though it was midnight, right?” I said while closing my eyes, pretending to think about the past while trying to calm my heart.

“So you remember what I told you…

True, at that night, everyone was woken up because of the sound. When they found you, each one of them has different expression. Some were astonished, others were afraid of you the moment they saw your wings. But for me, Cedric and Sara, it was a completely different.

Happiness.

Yes, it was happiness that swirled in our heart the moment we saw you.”

“Why is that? Why were you happy?”

“…Why?

Ventus…You might not realize it yet. No, I’m sure that it will take you lots of time to realize it.

But…you are dear to us.”

That smile again, the same one. Beautiful memories. No, go away!

“I don’t understand, Alyssa.”

_I could not understand at all._

_Why?_

_Why me? _

_Am I abnormal? A monster?_

_If so, then why you accepted me like that?_

_Make me human, make me felt love, and then–_

“You don’t need to. I’m sure you will eventually.”

The conversation halted at that point. Alyssa was looking at me, her eyes were more gentle than ever.

…

“…Hey, Alyssa…”

“…Yes?”

“…Please… don’t go…”

The moment I said that, tears started rolling down.

The smile I carved on my face, the reminiscence in my eyes – all the pretense I tried to put on, crumbled.

I couldn’t hide those tears, nor I want to.

If those tears could sway away the pain that I was feeling at that moment.

If those tears could make Alyssa stayed with me.

If those tears could grant my one selfish and foolish wish.

I don’t mind crying.

But, only small sobbing sounds replaced the silence the room had.

“…Ven, come closer.”

Alyssa used all her strength to raise her hands and pull my forehead to touch hers. A dim white light appeared and vanished immediately.

“…Ventus… At the time being, your heart and soul are shaken.

And yet, they still shine brilliantly, just like the stars at midnight.

Let your heart guide you, and I’m sure you will find your beloved ones.

Just like a wind, be free…and live your life…”

“…Alyssa?”

“…Ven, I have a request.

Can you… smile for me?”

Because that was her request

Her _last_ request.

Holding back the bitterness in my heart once more, I smiled.

The smile, that was only for her.

“…Thank you…

I’m truly happy… That I could meet you one more time.”

The last sentenced was just a whisper. Alyssa closed her eyes and let out a faint smile.

It looked like she was sleeping…

With my blurred vision, her name I chanted, like a whisper, like a prayer.

⸢Alyssa the Wise⸥, the one who gifted with vast knowledge.

For once, I thought that she asked something so stupid.

_So stupid…_

_How could I possibly say…_

_…our final goodbye with a smile…_

✧✦✧

The next day, all the islanders held the funeral for elder Alyssa.

From the Luna island’s tradition, the body of the deceased would be placed on the boat fill with their favorite flower.

While the boat float to the sea, people would sing the song that has passed down from the ancestor, as an announcement for the ancestor that awaits them from Heaven.

And in the end, a fire arrow would be shot and burned the body, so the ashes be casted into the sea while the soul be elevated to the afterlife.

But…

For Alyssa, the only person who guide them in the midst of confusion and despair, those feelings started coming back at them, overwhelmed the sadness and respect for her.

Some of them cried, some of them felt sorrowed. But those tears, those sorrow, they were not for her, but for those who had been left behind the island.

Her body was on the boat, but the flower she loved wasn’t anywhere to be found.

Everybody knew the song, but no one could sing for her.

Their delay was last for half a day.

_“Sweet dream, sweet dream, my dear_

_You’re always in my prayers_ _…_ _”_

While everybody was keeping their acts in vain, a small figure coat appeared in front of the small boat.

For their astonishment, the little boy placed a flower in her palm, and right after that, a small light glowed in the flower, its vines kept growing and embracing her, flowers blooming and filled the boat.

_“_ _…_ _Softly, sweetly_

_Wrapped up in heaven’s arms…”_

A flower that has the color of moonlight and bloom in a vine. It didn’t have a name, yet without anybody noticing, it survived through the harsh environment and bloom beautiful flowers.

The flower vine was discovered by Alyssa, and it was the only flower she loved.

The unique flower that nowhere to be found in this world, yet it once again appeared here, blooming as if it was only for her.

The boy lightly pushed the boat, let it floated in the water.

He followed the boat, his foot slowly walked on the surface.

_“…_ _Sailing, soaring_

_Over the moon, gathering stardust_ _…”_

Everybody knew who he was, yet no one raised their voice. The only they could do was standing, watching the scenery that bestowed them.

_“…Please remember_

_Where’re you are, my heart is with you…”_

The song, was sung by him, surged the emotion within the depth of their heart.

This time, while hearing the song, they cried. With the sadness and respect that was one overwhelmed by confusion, they cried for her.

As the boy seemed to satisfy, both he and the boat stop, in the middle of the lake.

He touched the head of the boat, and from that spot, a small flame busted out.

This flame held no original color, instead it was a white flame with hints of blue in it.

The flame slowly extended and covered the whole boat. It burned beautifully in the center of the lake.

_“…_ _Sweet dream, sweet dream, my dear_

_You_ _’_ _re always in my prayers_ _.”_

The song stopped, and two large wings sprout from the boy’s back.

Without looking back to the villager, he flew up to the sky and disappeared in the cloud.

That was the last time they saw the Luna Island’s ‘monster’.

⟪Announcement. Unique skill: [Wisdom] has successfully bestowed to individual: Ventus⟫

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The lyrics for the song is not mine. Here is the link of the music and lyrics
> 
> Nightcore - Je T'aime [Lyrics]  
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yi-UJk28FRI
> 
> P.S. I cried a little T-T


	14. New Beginning

_That was… The first time you…_

Floating in the ⸢Nothingness⸥, I tried to reorganize my thought

My mind has been cleared up, but I couldn’t think straight.

…

Oh yeah? What about Sheridan? I didn’t see him

(…)

(…Sheridan?)

(_Hmph_. Now you start to feel like talking, huh?)

(…Are you angry at me?)

(‘Angry’? _Hah!_ Why do I have to be angry at a kid who suddenly told me to shut up?)

…Hm?

This guy… Isn’t he a bit sentimental?

Well it’s particularly my fault, but still…

(…I’m sorry, I didn’t put too much thought when I shouted at you like that.)

(…Forget it. Let bygones be bygones. So, what next?)

He was still sulking, but it was better than nothing, right?

…Talking with him like this had calmed my heart a bit.

(Well, for that I do not know. I guessed we should go look a proper host for you, first.)

(Why rushing? We have plenty of time to do other things, after all.)

(But won’t you like to have a proper body?)

(To be honest, being inside you is quite comfortable. I can actually wait until you die and have this body of yours instead!)

Let’s get you a proper host ASAP!

(Besides, find a suitable host for me is quite hard, you know. In order for a soul to successfully transferred into a core, a range of wavelength have to be in sync. For beings like me, the suitable host is to be said, quite rare. Of course, we can still force ourselves to entered the Core, but it will only last at best 2 months before we need to find a new one.)

…Wait a minute. Did I just miss something _very_ important?

(Do you mean… Even after the ritual, there might be chance of me dying!?)

(Just as I said, let bygones be bygones~)

_Gasp!_ This guy… He is dangerous!

He is seriously dangerous!

For him to hide this information!

So by luck, my body happen to be suitable to host both of us…

Well, in the end I couldn’t do anything else… right?

(But I will still find a new host for you!)

(Okay, okay~)

_Hm_… So, what should I do?

…About what I heard back when I was with Alyssa…[Wisdom] wasn’t it.

What is it again?

【Solution. [Wisdom] is a Unique skill that has been bestowed by individual: Alyssa】

_Hm_… So very time I asked the question, [Wisdom] will be the one to save the day, huh?

I surprised that I was calm when receiving the information. Maybe it was because I got used to talking with Sheridan?

Anyway… what can this skill do…

【Solution. Unique skill [Wisdom] has the following abilities:

⸢All of Creation⸥: The ability to understand any non-conceal phenomenon in the worlds you are at

⸢Thought Acceleration⸥: Your thought processing will be accelerated 1000 times whenever you wish to

⸢Parallel Thinking⸥: The ability to detach thoughts and analyses of phenomenon

⸢Chant Annulment⸥: When using magic, chanting is no longer necessary

⸢Analysis and Judgment⸥: The ability to analysis the situation and thus deliver suitable judgment

These five are your abilities】

…Eh?

Wait, who are you?

WHAT are you!?

The main character died and then reincarnated with absurdly strong power… That kind of thing, right?

…Let’s calm down for a moment.

This skill was originally belonged to Alyssa. She had bestowed this skill to me before her final moment.

…

…Now is not the time for sulking! I must regain my composure quickly.

Sheridan did say I have interesting skills, so that means I have skills other than this?

【Solution. Analyzing Master is completed.

**Status**

**Name**: Ventus

**Species**: Fallen Angel

**Magic**: [Magic Energy Manipulation]; [Life Style Magic]

**Skills**: Unique skill: [Wisdom]; [Origin]; [Alchemist];

Species skill: [Holy attack]; [Demonic attack]

Extra skill: [Magic Perception]; [Life Perception]; [World Gate]; [Space Manipulation]; [Time Manipulation]; [Stealth]

Resistance: Abnormal Condition Resistance; Holy Resistance; Demonic Resistance; Light Resistance; Dark Resistance

That is the result of the analysis】

Hey…Did you just call me ‘Master’? Other than that…

_I _am an Angel!? Well… since I have wings, that is something to be expected… right?

But what was the ‘Fallen’ part?

Hm…

[Wisdom], [Magic Perception] and [Life Perception] is what I’ve already known.

[Space Manipulation]; [Time Manipulation] and [World Gate] were probably acquired when I was in the ⸢Nothingness⸥. But what about [Origin]?

【Solution. Unique skill [Origin] has the following abilities:

⸢Soul⸥: The ability to perceive, intercept and manipulate with the soul energy

⸢Mind⸥: The ability to perceive, intercept and manipulate with the mind of self and other

individuals

⸢Heart⸥: The user’s power is depended on one’s emotional and mental state.

These four are your abilities】

I want to seal this skill away…

What was that all about!?

Firstly, I knew about the ability to read people’s mind, but I have never tried transmit thoughts before…

But what are these!?

First is ⸢Mind⸥. This ability is absurd, right? To take control and change one’s mind… It’s too scary that I myself can’t put into words.

About ⸢Heart⸥… I really don’t understand much about it.

Both [Wisdom] and [Origin] are scary. Is this something to be expected from Unique skill?

What about [Alchemist]? Should I learn about it?

Let’s hope that this skill is less unreasonable than the previous two…

【Solution. Unique skill [Alchemist] has the following abilities:

⸢Appraisal⸥: The ability to analysis every substance.

⸢Transmutation⸥: The ability to reconstruct and transform any material substance.

⸢Storage⸥: Space to store substances (the volume is depended on one’s power).

⸢Isolation⸥: Substances that are in ⸢Storage⸥ can be used to replenish energy.

These four are your abilities】

Yep, another scary skill.

Why did I have such skill in the first place?

…Let just accept this as a fact. You lose if you think too much about it.

Suddenly, a thought rose in my mind.

What about Sheridan? I can analysis him now, right?

【Affirmative. Analyzing individual: Sheridan is in process

…

…

…Analyzing completed.

**Status**

**Name**: Sheridan

**Title:** Demon God of Insanity

**Species**: Demon

**Magic**: [Energy Manipulation]

**Skills**: Unique skill [Hysteria]; Unique skill [Devourer];

Species skill [Soul eater; Corrosion attack; Endless Regeneration EX];

Extra skill [Magic Perception]; Extra skill [Universal Perception]; Extra skill [Realm Travel]; [Neutralize Attributes]; [Space Time Control]; [Multidimensional Barrier]; [Magic Immunity]; [Demon God’s Aura]

Resistance: Natural Elements Immunity; Abnormal Condition Nullity.

That is the result of the analysis】

… I wanted to cry.

I knew he is dangerous, but to this extend…

And what was that title again? Demon God?

(I thought you said you were an Arch Demon?)

(Oh…? Ah right~

Right after you named me, I had the chance to evolve from an Arch Demon to Demon God…

My thanks, my thanks~!)

To think _I_ was the one who create this mess…

If the moment he transfers to the new host and say something like: ‘That was fun, now let’s fight~!’ or something like that, what should I do?

I could imagine a dark future that about to come…

So that was all about mine and Sheridan’s power at the time being.

There were lots of things I need to get used to, but somehow I managed.

Let’s go back to the previous question.

What should I do?

Let’s see… Let’s list all the things that need to be done first, shall we?

  1. Get stronger.
  2. Find new host for Sheridan and wish for the best.
  3. Get even stronger.
  4. Find the culprit who destroyed my world and BAM!

For the time being, these 4 are my priorities.

Yep, I need to get stronger first.

It’s for survival!!!

The next problem is… where should I go?

Should I go to the world where the culprit is right away?

For that, [Wisdom] I choose you!

【Solution. Scanning for possible locations due to Master’s wish…

By using ⸢Parallel Thinking⸥, the analysis can proceed passively. During that time, it is possible to travel nearby worlds】

Hm. How convenient.

All right then. It’s adventure time!


	15. The Country of Magi

_Hm…Strive to know or strive not to know…?_

A beautiful land where greenery spread out as far as the eye could see.

A great forest that looked like it covered the whole world.

With a giant tree existed at the end of the horizon.

And stood in front of me was the biggest library of Chaos Realm.

When I set foot in this world, it was near dawn.

I forgot to hide my wings, so I was glad that no one was able to see me.

From the experiences of the last time when I entered a different world, it is best to learn about common sense and things in this world before interacting its residents.

This world was functioned mainly by magic power. Thanks to [Magic Perception] and [Life Perception], I got a grasp about the current place.

Based on size and location, I seemed to be in a center square of a country. There was a giant building not too far away, and it has magic protection. Maybe it was some kind of important institute or a royal palace?

(That place looks fun~! Why don’t we go there?)

(…Don’t you know that curiosity kills the god?)

(But satisfaction brought them back~)

(Nope! Impossible! I won’t go there… yet?)

(Why not now? Nobody is up yet, so it’s not like anyone would notice you, right~?)

…No! I won’t let it get over me! I have to say vigilant.

(Don’t you have such amazing skills?)

Flattery won’t work on me!

Truly, ignorance is sin.

After the vigorous (mental) battle with Sheridan, I concealed my presence and hid in the forest.

✧✦✧

Soooo bored~

I seriously got nothing to do!

Was it some kind of holiday when people could slack of? It was already bright and shine!

No respond from Sheridan, either. Is he sleeping?

What to do, what to do…

Maybe I should try testing my new skills?

Okay! It’s time for you to shine, [Alchemist]!

Th-This is---!

Truly fascinating!

I couldn’t believe it; this skill is amazing!

When I tried activating ⸢Appraisal⸥ while holding a small herb that I picked randomly in the forest, it gave me loads of information about it.

The macroscopic properties, component, even some possible effect from the herbs.

But even though it could already give that much information, it still wasn’t all of them. It seems that the more samples I appraised, the more detailed it could provide.

Even so, if you think about it, the process of discovery and testing the herbs to use its full potential that supposed to take months, could be done in few minutes…

Truly, a terrifying skill…

…Could it be more terrifying than this? I thought it could.

For example, if I could combine ⸢Parallel Thinking⸥ from [Wisdom] to this skill…

But that wasn’t possible, right?

【Solution. It is possible to link ⸢Parallel Thinking⸥ with ⸢Appraisal⸥. Would you like to proceed? 】

Eh!? Could it be that convenient?

From the bottom of my heart, please do.

Just when I said that in my mind, a wave of information kept rushing in my head.

Time out! Time out!

_Huff… Huff…_ that was dangerous…

I requested [Wisdom] to process it passively, and only bring out the information that was needed. It turned out okay.

What a reliable person… Wait, is [Wisdom] a person to begin with? I mean, [Wisdom] is a skill, but it responded every time I asked and all…

【Solution. To be able to fulfill the purpose of serving Master, a response function had been added. 】

That’s it, huh? But to call that a function, are you being modest or just bold?

【…】

That aside, I tried to compare ⸢Appraisal⸥ and ⸢Analysis and Judgment⸥.

‘What?’; ‘Where?’; ‘When?’; ‘Who?’; ‘Why?’ and ‘How?’.

For these 6 types of question, [Wisdom] can answered all of them as long as it is an unconcealed phenomenon, while [Alchemist] could only answer ‘What?’ questions.

In terms of appraisal and analysis substance, [Alchemist] is superior, but that’s it.

Even so, to be able to obtain such amazing skill for someone like me… Am I really worth it?

…It was a touchy subject, let’s avoid that.

If you mind it, you lose!

Next is, of course, ⸢Transmutation⸥!

When it comes to alchemy…

A giant cauldron in the middle of the room, under it was a magic circle…

Red liquid, monster’s body part and many other ‘ingredients’ stocked in bottles…

An old lady with silver hair brewing some strange potion with wicked intent…

…Wait, did I just think about witch craft?

But are there any differences? It just another type of alchemy, right?

But I digressed.

The basic of basic of alchemy is of course, making potion.

Normal medicines are good, but in the world filled with magic, of course magic potions are more favored, that is a common thinking.

Back in the island, people did make normal medicine for kids, but that only limited to curing sickness or slight injury.

From my opinion, it was also another way for the islanders to show their respect for the previous generations. 

Well then, let’s execute it immediately!

…

Perfection.

Yes, only one word to describe the potion I just made. Perfection.

Apparently, the herb I picked up had healing properties in it. Just by using some water created by my magic, [Alchemist] broke down their component and combined it perfectly.

Et voila, the result!

The liquid with greenish color that held in my hand (I didn’t have any types of container at that time) gave out a faint scent of the herb.

And when I drank it, all the exhaustion and tiredness that I had previously had completely gone. The magic capacity that had been used for space traveling and making water also filled up considerably.

I would say it again. Perfection.

And that was only because I wished for it to become ‘healing potion’.

What would happen if I want it to be poisonous…?

Let’s not think about that.

Well, it would not be possible unless there were ‘poisonous’ properties in the herb. If there were ‘poisonous’ components in the herb, then it could be possible for [Alchemist] to fully reconstruct it.

Oh yeah, because I learnt about the art of alchemy, of course I wanted to make one myself. After having [Wisdom] to analysis it, I tried to follow the instruction.

Turns out, it wasn’t even as good as the previous one.

…For my own skill to surpass me…

…I don’t know whether I should feel proud or sad…

I did make a simple jar using earth magic and [Alchemist], so I stored the potion I made in it.

Well then, what should I do now?

Should I just jogged around to appraise all the herbs in this forest?

But that intention of mine had disappeared immediately the moment I noticed the presence of living being.

Using [Magic Perception], I picked up two people coming in the forest.

_Fufufu…_ What should I do with these two…?

While concealing my presence, I hid on the tree in the direction they were heading.

Convenient enough, on the way here I found a small herb that had lethargic effect. You could guess what would happen next, right?

Thanks to the trustworthy [Alchemist], I turned this ‘little guy’ into a sleeping gas. Well, although I said it was lethargic, it was just gas that made people unconscious for a few minutes.

With the help of wind magic, I blew the sleeping gas to those two. They started yawning and fell asleep in the next few seconds.

It was too easy, to be honest.

I had turned into an evil person, to actually drug some strangers…

Well then, time for experiment~

This time I choose you, [Origin]!

Using one of [Origin]’s ability ⸢Mind⸥, I studied basic concepts of this world.

…

…

…

This world is well known by the world travelers as ‘The Labyrinth of Knowledge’. True to its name, this is the world where world travelers collected and study knowledge of this Realm – the Realm of Chaos.

In this world, most people were witches or wizards, while some are just normal residents. There is a small number of people who with great amount of knowledge called Sage, and those who had reached the pinnacle of magic and wisdom in their field will be known as Great Sage.

For special individuals who were blessed with the protection of the World’s Tree Yggdrasil, they obtained the ability to travel between worlds and a special mission: to collect knowledges from the world they had travel.

…

Th-This is---!

Is this True Heaven?!

The knowledge of the whole Realm… Just hearing that made my heart race!

I could feel a dark door had opened in the depth of my heart…

Oh yeah.

One more thing, though it was unrelated: There was a connection between these two. To be precise, the man had one-sided love toward the woman.

What are you two doing, going to the forest alone in the first place?!

Well, not that I care, anyway.

Thanks to ⸢Though Acceleration⸥, all the information was obtained in nearly two minutes.

Since the concept of ‘World Traveler’ was well known and was treated as common thing, changing cloth was not needed. But I still wanted to dress up like them, not wanting to be feel out of place.

Did I strip the male? No way!

With [Alchemist], I reconstruct my clothes while holding the design in my head. The fairly long sleeve jacket with brownish color and the long black pant turned into a greyish garb covered by a dark blue cloak. The color set was easy for my wings to blend in.

They were done nearly in an instant. Truly amazing!

The only problem left was language. But in their memories, there were magic accessories that help translating multi languages in shops so I didn't concern about it much.

After the preparation, I was ready to go!

The place that had filled with silence when I first came here, became very lively. The country of magi Y'natalos, bordered by the great forest, it gave out a pleasant atmosphere. In the town square, people spending their time chattering or trading their goods.

Aside from normal humans, there were also the presence of fairies. To be honest, they were truly cute.

(What a peaceful town~)

(Oh? You are up, Sheridan?)

Sheridan manifested his ghost form and stood next to me.

(Yeah yeah, I was focused on something.

You have already grown accustomed my spiritual energy and my soul being inside your core, but it still needs more adjustment.

I have gone through such tedious days, so something like this does tickle my interest.

Hey! Should I customize your soul while I am at it? It will be fun~)

(By all means, please don’t.)

(A shame, I could turn you into a full-pledged demon if you accepted~

Well then, I still need to do something, so bye~)

And that was our mental conversation. Sheridan disappeared and went back into me.

Did he actually intent to turn me into such malicious being!?

I could never let my guard down when I’m with him…

And even though I didn’t agree to this, it wasn’t like he would listen to me, anyway…

…Let’s hope that the day when the worlds were in chaos never come…

I felt a light tap on my left shoulder.

It was surprising, for me to let my guard down with those thoughts. Of course, I jumped, and quickly turned around to see the figure. A lady in her middle age, with clothing similar to the one I was wearing. The only differences were the indigo color of the garment and a pointy hat.

She seemed a little bit trouble and started saying something. I just briefly understood that she tried to apologize, but I couldn’t reply back to relieve her worry.

What should I do? I wasn’t ready for that!!!

I tried my best to console her (with body gesture), but as I thought, it made her became more confused. A little bit later, she seemed to realize something and took something out of her bag. It was a blue bracelet with some strange letter craved on the surfaced. She gently pulled my wrist and wore it for me. It emitted cyan light particles and then returned to normal.

“Can you understand what I’m saying now?”, she said.

_‘So this is the magic accessory…’_, I thought that while giving a small nod.

“Thank goodness, I’m so glad! Although you are wearing clothes with similar design, but as I thought, you are from another world, hum?”

“Oh yes, I arrived here not too long ago…”

“You must be new here. You seemed quite troubled for a while, after all. But for such a young girl to be here alone… Do you have anyone with you?”

“…Actually, I’m a boy…”

“Hm? Oh my, I’m sorry! You have long hair and an adorable face, so I mistook you!”

“It’s alright, everybody is like that, too. So I got used to it to some extent.”

She seemed even more troubled than before, but I was glad that I was able to avoid the question. It would be abnormal for a small kid to be alone, after all.

At least I myself had such common sense.

But again, I wasn’t alone. However, I couldn’t possibly tell a kind lady that there was literally a demon inside me, right?

As a matter of fact, I think this kind of information should be concealed no matter what.

Let’s change the topic!

“About the bracelet, is there anything I can do as thanks?”

“Oh? There is no need! I once made a lot for the mages and world travelers. I’m glad that this one has the suitable owner for it!”

“I…see. Thank you.”

“…You are a good child, are you not?”

“Hm?”

“Anyone who can say ‘thank you’ is a good person”, so she exclaimed, with a cheerful smile.

What an amiable lady. I wondered was everyone here like this?

“Since we are together now, why don’t we come around this country? I can be your guide here.”

“_Eh?_ Is that okay? Don’t you have anything important to do?”

“It’s alright! I’m free today, and sometimes just walking is a way to enjoy oneself, hm?”

And with that, she guided me around the country.

While being guided by Lynda (the kind mage), we wandered around Y'natalos. Everybody was enjoying their time with chatter and laughter. Not a single sign of unhappiness or famine presented anywhere around.

There were more shops in this country than I expected. Mostly every house had a sign in front of it. Stores that sold accessories, stores that sold magic tools… Oh, there were also many Food store, too. I wondered what the food here tasted like?

She led to a district, in the direction where I could hear people singing. Lots of witches wearing dresses with unique patterns that completely different to the ones I and Lynda was wearing. They were singing and dancing on a large bucket full of strange liquid. With them, were the fairies, flying around and scattered some kind of dust.

Not just me, other people stopped what they were doing for a few second to enjoy the scenery. The witches and fairies were happy, and that alone left those who saw them a pleasant feeling.

“Good day to you! Would you care for some Flonnel wine?”, asked a witch standing near us. She looked younger than Lynda, and her hands were holding a tray with glasses filled with deep purple color liquid.

But Flonnel wine? What’s that?

“Flonned wine is a special wine made by witches and fairies.”, explained Lynda.

“Is there any differences between this type of wine and normal ones?”, I asked.

“Of course. Only us witches can make this type of wine.

You see, wine normally has a fermentation period that lasts at least a month. Flonnel wine is unique in that, with the help of the fairies’ scales, the fermentation rate increased and it could be ready in a very short period.”

“Is that so?”

So those dust were fairy scale, huh?

“Not only that!”, said a fairy that came flying right to me, “Our scales can also affect the fragrance of the wine, too!

As beings who are loved by God from the origin of the world, our scales can never leave us and will come back to us after some time. When our scales returned, the fragrance is what left behind and it depends on the place we live. For example, if we live in place where roses presented, the wine will have rose-like fragrance. If there were trees, a fresh, verdant smell. And with berry bushes, a hint of berries mixes in the flavor.”

The witch for invited us earlier continued, “As fairies adore beautiful voices and dances, we sing and dance while making wine to make it more delicious. We also use magic to create water. When enough scales are mixed in, the process is completely. And once strained with a cloth, the wine is perfect.”

The fairy flew to the tray and picked up a glass of wine. He then flew back to me and handed the glass. With the size just as big as my fisted hand, he sure was strong.

“Now now, it is best to judge it yourself, no? Let me be honest with you, I have confidence in my work today.”, he said.

Since Lynda also received a cup and tried it herself, I had a small sip of the drink.

“…Delicious!”

I took another sip. Yep, delicious.

The sweet and sour flavor is a blend from citrus and berries, while the fresh fragrance resemble a garden full of flower.

It was a first time I drank wine, and indeed it left me a deep impression about such exquisite drink.

Cedric and Lucia sometimes brought up a wine bottle that they got from the trip and had it after dinner. Leo and Sara also went drinking with their comrades when they had time to spare. I started wondering how it tasted like.

“ “ If you like the wine that much, then why don’t you try our samples? ” ”

A group of witches said that to me, each of them had a tray on their hand with different items.

“This is the berry jam made from berries that only ripped under the twilight!”

“You should try it with exquisite bread! It was bake from the herbs and wheat that were specially grown by elves!”

“If you already had enough sweets, why not some rainbow salad? We colored them with magic, and it is delicious, too!”

etcetera and etcetera…

Of course, I tried them all.

Just because I do not need eating doesn’t mean I will pass those wonderful delicacies.

And as I thought, they were wonderful.

Because they were all wonderful, I would look over the strange look that the witches gave me while I was eating.

“I can see there are many witches who strive to make things. Is that one of the jobs here?”, I casually asked Lynda.

“Hm? A job?”, she replied back with a question.

“How do I say it…? It’s not really a job”

“What would you call this, again?”

“A livelihood, I think?”

_…Hm?_ Why everybody seemed confused?

Not a job, but a livelihood?

“Oh yeah, I forgot to ask, little boy. What brings you here?”, Lynda asked.

‘For no reason, really’, should I say that to her?

I had no idea where I was about to arrive, after all.

“Oh yes, I came to look for some information and learn new things if possible.”, I replied thus.

That wasn’t a lie, though. I had no reason to feel guilty about.

“Is that so?”

“That just fine, then.”

“Come with us, please. We will show you the work we magi do.”

And so, I was guide to the biggest building in the country of magi.


	16. The Prophecy

_Pure foolishness… To think…_

The sole grand building stood up brilliantly in the center of the country, with multiple magic barriers protecting it.

This building was well known as the World’s Library – the witches and wizards’ seal library.

You could see many aisles just from the way in, each of them was shelves with full of books. Thousands upon thousands stacked in neat rows, all orderly arranged and aligned back-to-back where their insides could not be judged by their covers. I could sense the faint scent of woods and old papers in the atmosphere.

It was… nostalgic, and a little bit sad, if I were to be honest.

Though there were no lights coming from the outside, inside the building was as bright as day thanks to the luminous orbs floating around. I used [Alchemist] to appraise it, turns out it was a magical mixture from many kinds of herbs that could give off light when magic presented. There was also a giant orb like that in the center of the library’s roof, made me wondered how many magic powers had to put into it.

I noticed some strange symbols that were craved in the floor, some letters were quite familiar with the ones in the bracelet Lynda gave me. There were some symbols like this outside the library, too.

Wait, could it be--!?

“Is this the part of a giant magic circle?”, I asked Lynda while pointing at the letters.

“Oh? You noticed! You are pretty knowledgeable, aren’t you?

What you said is true; this is a small part of an ancient magic circle. It was drawn by the first generation of magi and was checked and maintained every few months. This magic circle creates multiple barriers that protect books from being stolen and Lammas.”

“Lammas?”

“It’s the name of a species that lives here. They are nasty vermin that eat books, the book’s letters to be precise. For us who value knowledge, they are like our natural enemies.”

“That so…? But won’t the multiple barriers cost a lot of magic power?”

“Not at all! You see, there is a waaay bigger magic circle that cover the whole country, and its only purpose is to collect magic energy from everybody that currently in town.”

…Eh?

Eeehhh!?

Is that even possible!? To begin with, is that really true?

【Solution. That is true. From the moment you arrived here, your magic power has been constantly drained】

But isn’t that dangerous?

【Solution. Not at all. Up until now, the magic energy that had been taken away was only 5% of your magic capacity.】

Is that so…?

…Wait. Different people have different magic capacity, right? It might be okay for me, but what about others?

…Since there was no sign of anybody suddenly collapsing on the road, I guessed it wasn’t something I should worry about.

But that’s really smart! Even if it just 5% of my magic energy were drain, in the country where no less than a million people presented, the collected magic energy would be immense!

When I made barriers, what I did was released my own magic power and used it to condense natural magic energy and manifest it into a wall. It took me lots of magic power and could only last for a few strikes.

Simply put, my barrier sucks.

…Welp, more thing for me to learn, then.

There were lots of magi in the library. There were also sights of people from different races and people with strange clothing style, maybe they were world travelers like me.

“Where is she now…? Oh, there she is! Adeeeeilaaaa~!”, said Lynda, as she rushed to a witch who was standing near the book shelves.

How could she be that fast? Was that magic?

“Oh hello--Umph!”

“How was your day, my dear? You didn’t skip breakfast, did you?”

“Please, auntie. I am currently at work!”

The conversation lasted for a few minutes later.

After that, Lynda started pushing the young witch to me and said:

“Adeila, this little boy needs your help. Little boy, this is Adeila. She is a librarian here, and moreover, my niece.”

“Nice to meet you! But you seem quite…busy?”

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention…

The little me at that time was being hugged by one of the witches. For some reason, along the way to the library a witch suddenly picked me up and hugged me. I wasn’t in anyway heavy, but that was sudden. After that, the rest started complaining about something and I was switched from one to another for the rest of the road.

Of course I didn’t complain, since I tried all of their food.

But could you stop treating me like a plushie?! My cheek had become swollen already…

After the little struggle, the witches let me go and left while pouting.

“We leave him in your care, Adeila.”

“We will bring some sweets later as thanks.”

“And please visit our shops after this, okay?”

That were the things they said before leaving.

Lynda also left, so it was just me and Adeila in the aisle.

“Sooo… What brings you here?”

“My apologies. I want to study about the nature of magic. Also, if possible, I would love to study more about other worlds.”

“Is that so…? Information about worlds may be quite vague depends on which world you are looking for, also this is not something anyone can look for easily without permission. But we do have a whole area about magic studies and records. For now, I’ll show you where it is.”

“Thank you so much. Please do.”

“…You know, you are quite… different from normal kids at your age, are you not?”

“_Hm?_ How come?”

“Well… you are still young, but the way you act is more… mature than other kids. Oh! Please don’t take me wrong! You are polite, and your face is cute… so…”

She seemed quite flustered, I wondered why?

“But will be okay for you? I mean, do you have anyone else with you?”

Aaand she changed the topic by stepping in a landmine.

“I will be okay. Moreover, I have a reliable friend with me, so you don’t have to worry about me.”

Well… I was quite worried about the extent of Sheridan’s ‘reliability’, but what I said was not a lie, so it was okay.

A wise man is one who can use their words carefully, I say.

“That’s good then. Now please follow me!”

✧✦✧

“So… What sort of place is this?”, I asked on the way.

“In this place, every single book in all the worlds could be found here. You can find almost any record of all manners of things from every world here.”

“But… Is there any reason for you to go and collect books from worlds?”

She turned around and faced me, and with a face filled with pride and happiness:

“That's because we hold a great respect for history and knowledge.

Ever since the World Tree Yggdrasil appeared in this world and gave all the people here its blessing. We were enlightened.

We all belief that all these worlds – this Realm – were created by the hand of Gods. That they created everything, from the land, the river, and us. In order not to forget the miracle that they have bestowed, we have traveled and gathered books since the ancient times.

Those with the blessing will have the duty to travel and collect books, while others are left to managed all the books which have been gathered.

With the knowledge we obtained, we used it to make magic tools and goods such as jam, bread and many other things. The goods we made can be used for trading or for selling to other world travelers.”

She explained thus.

“So that’s why you called it a livelihood…”

“_Fufu, _that’s right!”, she chuckled.

On the way there, we entered a large hall. In there, I couldn’t help but notice the sole portrait. The painting dominated the walls, every color was bold and painted with such precise lines that it almost looked like a mosaic.

But what attracted me more was its content. While at the rear of the picture was the presence of many colors, the center of the painting only existed two color that couldn’t be seen at any other part: black and white. In the center of those two colors stood a single figure. No one could ever know that its expression, maybe because the person bestowed no faces. Behind that person’s back was…wings. 12 pure black wings that completely contrast to the white color used to paint the person. They look just like lines of thread, extended as they tried to snatch everything of the surrounding.

“Can I ask you the meaning of that drawing?”, I asked.

“Oh, that… I am not so sure about this, but I heard that was given to the library from a very long time ago. I only heard from the previous generation, but the person who gave this painting to the library was a prophet. He said that this picture was his warning about what he foresaw in one of his dreams”

“And what was his warning?”

“…The calamity of all worlds.”

Every single word in that sentence struck in my mind.

An unexplainable feeling started creeping in my heart.

“But please, do not worry about it. I am not really sure about its uncertainty, as it was just maybe one of the man’s wild dream. Although we recently received a report about a world’s destruction, there wasn’t no record about any being with 12 black wings.”

“What if… it was a fallen angel?”

“That can’t be the case. No matter what kind of world you came from, when the angels were fallen, only their holy power disappear; the color of their wings will remain pure white”

Then… _What_ am I?

Was [Wisdom]’s analysis wrong. It couldn’t be… could it?

Just when I thought I knew more about myself, more unanswered questions suddenly popped out from nowhere.

Why is this always happening to me?

We went through the long aisle and entered a room. The room was by any mean small, with luminous mosses and mushrooms the floor and in the top of the shelves. It reminded me of the moss that grew inside my secret place.

“Here we are! I recommend you reading the books from the bottom shelves first, since it was written for young mages and beginner.

I have to go back to do some work. If you need anything, you can always see me around the main hall.”

“Thank you so much. Have a nice day.”

The conversation ended, I was left alone in the room.

I looked around the room and also use [Magic Perception].

Yep, I was alone. Checked and secured.

(With all of mine might I summon thee! Cometh forth, Sheridan!)

Sheridan appeared in his ghost form and stood up in the table next to me. He then looked down to me and said:

(Geez, what a lousy way to call me. Wassup, need a morning kiss or something?)

(Um, no thanks. I just have a tiny weesy favor I want you to do.)

(And why should I listen to your request?)

(Well, you see Sheridan…

Ever since we came here, you rarely spoke to me and just stayed in my body. You left me alone with a whole bunch of strangers to do something that I don’t even know of. You said yourself that we are friends, but what you did was giving me a cold shoulder. Truth to be told, I’m a little bit sad…)

I said that while wiping the small tear (made of water magic) in the corner of my eyes.

He looked at me with the ‘what-da-heck-is-that’ expression for a moment and then finally gave in.

(_Haaiz…_ What do you want?)

(_Gasp!_ You will help me? Will you?)

(I will listen to whatever you say, as long as you drop that!)

(Thank you, my friend. I know I can rely on you!)

(Say your needs before I change my mind.)

Success! The fish had taken the bait.

…The whole drama talk was only used to release the unpleasant feeling I held, but I was glad that he went with the flow.

Moreover, since he was willing to help, I shouldn’t waste it.

(Since no one will notice you, can you go around and check where they hold information about worlds?)

That’s right. Since there were books collected from so many worlds, the possibility about the existence of the worlds’ record and their information was not low. In fact, I suspect that information about where the world’s Core might be located.

Of course, such crucial information couldn’t be obtained without the library’s permission, but I didn’t hold much hope about me getting that opportunity.

Asking Sheridan doing this might be the safest way.

(Nope! Impossible! Give up before you set the bar too high)

(Eh? But why?)

(The reason why I said only _you_ could see me or notice my presence is because I customized your soul and altered your consciousness. One could say that I solely exist in your world, not in anyone else’s)

(But what about you causing a ruckus back then?)

(Kinda hard to explain to you, my friend, but that was a combination of some of my abilities. You may call that [Parallel Existence]. However, to be able to do that, conditions must be met. One requirement is for me to be in your range of perception.)

So he existed but at the same time he was not… Ugh, why must it had to be so complicated!?

I am just a kid you know?

(Instead of that, why don’t you just let me meet one of the librarians? you could just wrack her mind while you used your [Mind] to get information.)

(…I don’t want to do that. They already help me a lot, and to do such thing to them is just…wrong)

(You have to make up your mind if you want to do something, kid)

(And I am very sure that I don’t want to do that.)

(I guess you are just an idiot)

(I takes effort to be one, my friend.)

…

(So… anything else?)

(Way to drop the mood! _Haaiz_, at least stay here and do some reading with me)

And so, I chose some books to read while Sheridan kept me company.


	17. Side story: Flonnel Wine

With the vast number of books that stored in the library, not even a single second was wasted for doing nothing.

Every day I spent time studying and practicing magic. I also learn about chemical components in order to use [Alchemist] at its finest potential. At that time, I was able to create potion that cure normal disease and fully recover stamina without using the skill, and I could also make flask just from dirt. How cool was that?!

And with those high-quality potions, I traded them with the witches for foods. Oh, I could never get bored to such delicacies.

But of course, for _a certain someone_ who couldn’t enjoy them, there’s no way he wouldn’t be sad…

(What the hell are you talking about?! Who cares about such things?)

(I understand completely well Sheridan. If I was in your case, I would be sad, too)

(_Hmph._ And why would I? As I am a perfect being, I don’t even have the need to eat food anyways)

(Same goes for me. But that doesn’t mean you _won’t_ enjoy it)

(I’ve already tried based on your memory. Compare to the soul of the innocents, those foods are nothing but trash anyway)

Yeah yeah, since that’s the case, can you stop staring at the Flonnel wine bottle so intensively?

If looks could make things explode, then you could have burnt the whole place down. Without even having eyes!

Guess it couldn’t be help, huh…

_That night…_

(Sheridan~!)

(What!? Don’t you have anyth– Hey, what’s that bottle for?)

(So you notice… I brought it after our little conversation this afternoon.

At first, I thought that this could be something that both of us would enjoy… But what a pity. Since you have already considered it as ‘trash’, I guess it’s okay for me to have it for myself, right?)

_Fufufu_, for all the troubles you made me went through, this is a perfect payback!

I laughed mischievously while tasting the sweetness of victory.

…_Hm?_ It’s… tasteless?

(_Uhmm…_ Maybe you were right. I should enjoy this more often~)

Wait a minute… Did you take over my sense of taste?!


	18. [Wisdom] is the enemy of all scholars

I felt like I had been cheating recently.

Just a few days ago, I realized another… function that [Wisdom] possessed.

But first thing first, let me state one simple fact.

If you read a book straight, then no matter how fast you could read, it will take quite a long time to finish one book. And with such number of books presented in this library… Let just say a human’s life time won’t even suffice.

But then, _that _happened.

When I started to feel furious because some theories about the origin of magic became conflicted to each other and wanted to give up finishing the rest of the book, [Wisdom] proposed such thing.

【Would you like to copy the content?】

Yes, he (I will now consider [Wisdom] as he, since the voice is of a man) said that, with a nonchalant tone.

But then, as I did not have a care about the consequence, I gave him my consent.

The next thing I knew, [Alchemist]’s ⸢Storage⸥ started to be filled up.

To be blunt, I copied the book completely.

Simultaneous utilization of [Wisdom]’s and [Alchemist]’s abilities, I created a copy of the book I was holding and immediately transferred it to the storage.

After that, I high-speed copied every book I picked in the shelves.

If someone nearby looked at me, it seemed to be that I pick out the book from the shelf and then returned it after a few seconds.

Moreover! MOREOVER!

[Wisdom] even sorted out the book contents for me. In another way speaking, he learnt it for me.

Why do I feel like I had committed a crime?

Was it illegal? No no, possibly not!

‘It will only be a crime if you get caught~’, that was what Sheridan said.

But I couldn’t help but having a sense of guilt…

To everyone in the world who studies diligently, forgive this ignorant angel!

At least I still had the joy of reading the books I copied…


	19. A strange, strange world - 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys! Sorry for the late updates 
> 
> Next up... Welcome to the Wonderland!

_I wonder…_

After spending time studying in Y'natalos, I left the world to move on to next one.

Only 4 months had passed since the day I set foot in that place, and I made use of every amount of time I had.

It was a pity that I couldn’t get my hands on the most crucial information I need, but it was okay since I had learnt a lot.

Well, it’s not like I wouldn’t come back after that, anyway.

[Wisdom] still working passively about narrowing the target, what a reliable guy.

And thus, I entered the next world.

✧✦✧

…Ugh…My head…

What a rough landing, I thought my backside was gonna get smashed.

So…Let’s ask ourselves a typical question that typical people who got lost ask themselves.

Where are we?

This world didn’t have much magical energy, what a bummer.

(Hey kid~ You alright there?)

(Hello Sheridan. Can you please tell me the reason why you are turning upside down?)

(Am I now~ Better check your surrounding~!)

Where does his abnormal enthusiasm come from?

…Wait, why is the furniture sticking in the ceiling?

…And why is my hair floating upward?

The moment I thought that, my body had a sudden sense of being pulled upward.

Or maybe, that was me falling down.

Ouch!

What just seriously happened!?

(_Wuahahaha!_ That was hilarious~)

Thank you, Sheridan…not!

(I hope you can give me a proper explanation for this)

(Beats me. This is my first time, too.

But this is interesting. Not only this world alters your sense perception, but also the law of physics, though only temporarily. It just like each individual could control the essence of reality in this very world.

In any case, I have high expectations about this world!)

Welp, that could only mean troubles.

Should I escape? That was a good option.

…Nah. Sheridan did get his point.

The world was quite weird, but maybe I could learn something from it. If something happened, then I would escape at that time.

So, let’s proceed, shall we?

Hmmmmm~

Yep, the place sure was weird.

I couldn’t tell whether the place I was at a tunnel or a hallway in a mansion.

If it was a hallway, then the mansion sure was damn big.

But if it was a tunnel, then what were the furniture for?

The ground is a floor with black-red checkerboard pattern, and the wall was like a cave with paintings and pictures that I couldn’t figure what their content were.

Seriously, where am I?

Let’s just accept it as a common sense. Yep, a common sense alright. I have to think flexibly.

But where the hell am I?!

That was an important question, so I had to say it twice.

Where I entered next is a room that shape like a dome.

I wanted to retort, but lose the will to do so immediately.

Should I sigh and say something like ‘As expected, huh’?

The whole dome is covered by the candles’ dim light, revealing the faint amber color that used to paint the wall.

At the top was a chandelier, and from its scone patterns that resembled tree roots that spread out could be seen.

And in the center of the room was a single round table.

  1. Gigantic. Round. Table.

Was I a kid who got lost in the giant’s house? No, it didn’t seem like it.

So what was _THAT_ for?

Ignore and proceed. No more lookies.

I intentionally avoid the table and went to a door.

Just when I grabbed the door knob—

“_Hmph!_ Such manners! To interrupt my slumber by such ruthlessness!”

I instinctively release the door knob.

…Did I just imagine that?

Maybe I just tired, yeah. Even though I didn’t require sleeping, that doesn’t mean I had no need to sleep at all. Maybe the stress and mental fatigue had been built up as a result of not sleeping, and caused hallucination. Overworking is bad!

Yep, there is no way a door knob could talk.

After exiting this room, I should find a place to rest…

“First you disturbed my sleep, and now you are ignoring me?”

… I ran away.

What was that!? Seriously, what was that!?

No matter how you look at it, it was unusual, right?

A doorknob. Talked.

That’s it! Bail out! Goodbye, strange world.

…

Eh? The gate couldn’t construct?

【Alerted. Insufficient magic energy. Impossible to construct Spatial Gate】

(This place has scarce magic energy, you know. With your level of magic manipulation, creating a gate here might be impossible~)

Eh? Does it mean I would be stuck here?

(Now now, don’t be depressed with just that. I have 2 choices for you to get out of here.

  1. Ask the great me for salvation~
  2. Advance, and find a place with higher magic density and summon the gate there.

Your choice!)

…Was that even a proposal?

I mean, every single word he gave me just stank of “Do it yourself”. Should I try my luck with him?

(Then… No.1, please?)

(That wouldn’t be interesting so… nope~!)

Figured.

No choice but to proceed, eh…

“Now now… Look who’s here. The rude bloke earlier came back.”

You are just a doorknob. No need for sarcasms.

“Are you thinking something impolite?”

Nope. Not at all.

“I’m sorry for my rudeness earlier. This is the first time I met a doorknob as… unique as you.”

“Since you are sincere, I shall accept your apology. Now if you excuse me, I would like to return to my golden slumber.”

“But before that, can you please let me through, from what I have seen, the only exit of this room is this d– I mean you.”

“A foolish request made by a foolish child.”

That’s harsh!

“To unlock a door, of course you will need a key. Do you expect me to unlocked myself? I’m just a doorknob, you know.”

Oh now you tell me.

“Are you thinking something impolite again?”

Kidding. Just kidding.

So… a key, huh? Where could I find it…?

“Well… the key is on the table, as you can see through the glass…”

Oh! I could see it now, well then…

“To get the key– hey wa--!”

Seemed like the door knob was about to tell me something, but that didn’t matter.

I sprout my wings and flew up to the table, leaving the doorknob trying to say something behind.

On the table, I saw a silver key and a bottle with purple liquid labelled “Drink me”.

What should a good kid do when he saw something like this…? For all kinds of questions in the world, the most suitable answer would always be: It depends.

So for that, come forth, [Alchemist]!

…What?

It was strange. No matter how I appraised it, only the effect was showed. I couldn’t look at the ingredient or chemical compounds that existed in the potion.

Suspicious. Truly suspicious.

…Let’s ignore that. I didn’t find any need to use it, anyway.

I grabbed the key and then flew down to the door’s place. Mr. Doorknob seemed… dumbfounded.

“You…you have wings?”

“Yes? What about it?”

“It is strange, of course! This is my first time seeing a human with wings.”

And this is my first time seeing a talking doorknob. Truth to be told, your existence is even more mysterious than mine.

“Any-hoo, I have the key.”

“Great! Just leave this place quickly and return my beloved silence.”

I let Mr. Doorknob swallowed the key, and the door opened.

✧✦✧

Welp, the twin was hard to deal with.

Ever since I left the room, I entered a zone where a bunch of animals running around a large poll as if they were desperately trying to dry themselves out of the soaking wet costume they were wearing.

And of course, I casually avoided it. You lose if you mind it.

But just after I left that place, I met a white rabbit. The rabbit was panicked and ran pass through me while shouting “I’m late!” spontaneously. Well at least I wasn’t jumped in surprised, seeing a rabbit chanting and running and all.

After that, I entered a dark forest and encountered a twin. They started telling jokes while jumping around.

And of course, I ran away, like it was a normal thing to do.

It was quite rude, I know that. But I really need to get out of here. Fast.

By using [Magic Perception], I detected and followed the flow of magic energy to find the source, where the magic density is the highest. But in the forest, the magic flow became unstable and I got lost. Although it was night time, there was no moon nor stars, so proceeding was impossible.

After such a long time, I think I deserved a break.

Or so I thought.

Just when I began to sit down, I noticed a small creature sitting on a tree branch.

A cat, or so I assumed, as the only cat I have seen was a picture in a book.

That ‘cat’, with many claws and teeth, and the unique trait of that cat might be its wide grin.

Losing the strength to retort, I only said to the cat.

“Good evening.”

Immediately after I finish my greeting, the cat disappeared.

(Well that was rude, but I’m not the one to say…)

“Well hello.”

“!”, I jumped a little.

The cat was floating right beside my shoulder. Staying this world for a whole day and there are still things that had yet failed to surprise me.

“It is the first time I see a bird with a shape of a boy. Or are you perhaps a boy with the wings of the bird?”

An interesting creature, it was.

For that, I replied.

“I wonder? Maybe I am either, or maybe I am none. Tell me, what is your name.”

“My name. I couldn’t give you that, for I have no names. But you can call me Cat the Cheshire.”, said Cheshire with its grin becoming even wider.

“Cheshire, huh? So tell me, why isn’t it your name, but what they call you?”

“Because it is as it is, of course. Why, you might as well say that ‘I see what I eat’ is the same thing as ‘I eat what I see’.

So tell me, who are you?”

“I’m Ventus.”

“Is that your name, or it that what they call you?”

“I–”

I was dumbfounded by the question.

No, I was dumbfounded by the reason why I was dumbfounded.

Why, up until now, had I buried a sight of doubt in my mind?

_Who am I? What am I?_

As those questions kept echoing in my mind, an indescribable feeling seized my heart.

…

It’s useless to think about such things now.

I looked at Cheshire who still had its grin surfaced.

“For that question of yours, I do not have the answer.”

“Knowing that not knowing is another way of knowing.”, said Cheshire, in answer to my reply.

“As I was in such strange world, I learnt new things in such unusual way. For that, thank you.”

“It was fun to talk, and good to know. It’s been a long time since I talk to someone new. Well then, see you.”

Cheshire said, then vanished.

It was… a good talk, if I do say so myself. I closed my eyes and let the dizziness sulk in.

“By-the-bye. You seem lost in the woods, do you have anywhere to go in mind? I almost forgot to ask that.”

!!!

That almost gave me a heart attack.

“I–I don’t have any places in mind specifically. And could you please appear in more…normal way?”

“That, I cannot do. But for a lost boy, I can at least give you a hint.”

“And what could it possibly be?”

“From my left shoulder”, Cheshire started to float around. He raised one of his paws and said:

“If you go this way, it will lead you to the Caterpillar. And in that way–”, he raised another paw, “–will lead you to the Hatter. Visit either you like, and you may find what you were looking for.”

The Caterpillar and the Hatter, huh…

“Thanks for the hint.”, I said.

“It is nothing to be thank of. Well then, until next time…”, said Cheshire, as it began to disappear, again.

...

...

...

It was quite a good rest, and I could feel the sunlight through the dark leaves.

Now then, where should I head?


	20. A strange, strange world - 2

At the moment, in front of me was a mushroom, about the same height as me.

And on top of that giant mushroom, sat a blue caterpillar.

The caterpillar was big, very big, even bigger than me. It was quietly smoking a long hookah, and didn’t take any notices about my presence.

We looked at each other for quite some time in silence. Even now I myself don’t know why I didn’t just ignore the creature or at least trying to break the ice. Fortunately, after quite some time, the caterpillar took off its hookah and asked me in a slow, languid voice:

“Who are you?”

Okaaay… That was not a good start for a conversation, especially after the talk with Cheshire. For his question, I could only answer:

“I – I don’t know. Even I am not sure who I am.”

“What kind of question is that? Explain yourself!”

“Well, you see –”

“_I_ do not see.”

Well this is confusing.

“Well then, could you tell me who you are?”

“Why?”

“Because, you know, I –”

“_I_ do not know.”

This is getting frustrating…

“I don’t even understand about me, and this conversation is getting more and more confusing…”

“It isn’t.”

“Well, maybe not for you, sir. But for me –”

“_You_!”, interrupted the Caterpillar, “Who are you?”

The unusual conversation went back to its beginning. Without holding the anger inside me, I boasted out:

“With all of the respect I have for you, sire, I had already given you my answer. Even if you find it unacceptable, that’s the only thing I can give you!”

And with that unpleasantness, I turned myself away.

“Wait. I have something to say.”

This is better worth wasting my time…

“Keep your temper.”

“I supposed that is not all?”

“Of course. Right now, you are confused, and you know that you are confused.”

“Well certainly, that is true.”

“And why are _you_ confused?”

“Ever since I came here, I have strange experiences.”

“They are not strange.”

“How do you know that they are not?”

“How do you know that they are? Or rather, how do you know which is ‘normal’ and which is ‘abnormal’?”

“…I…”

“You are confused because you experience things you have never experienced before, and your ignorance prevent you from accepting it.”

“Do you mean that it is better for me to just… accept it?”

“How can I know, since you yourself not know? At the end of the day, the actions you have taken, the things you have seen, it is for you to decide which is what. And doesn’t it make _you_ who _you are_?”

I… am the one who made me who I am?

“But… that’s not right.

…After all, what makes me who we are is not viewed by the individual, but from others.”

“That is correct, but at the same time, that is not. By ourselves, we're no one. It's when other people look at us and see someone—that's the moment we each start to exist.”

“But even when I did nothing harm, people still call me a monster…”

“Do you believe you are?”

“Pardon?”

“If you believe that as such, then it is decided. But if you don’t, then it can still change. I believe that nothing around here is strange, so it is not.”

So in the end, I am the one who decide that, huh…

Looking back, if I tried a litter harder, will the islanders accept me?

…

Feeling regrets is a part of learning, but keeping that feeling has no meaning.

Still, I had, once more, learn a new thing in this strange world.

“Thank you.”

“I have no needs for your gratitude, for I haven’t done anything to you.”

“Well, maybe for you it’s nothing, but it was a new lesson for me.”

“_You!_ Who are _you_?”

There we go again…

“Isn’t that not matter?”

“Why?”

“After such a long conversation, even if I tell you who I am or what I am called, it won’t change your perception about me, right?”

After saying that, I bid my farewell to the caterpillar whose name I didn’t know, and left.

✧✦✧

Through be field full of grass that had the height even exceed mine, I entered a small square.

Isn’t that caterpillar and the grass too tall? Or had I become too small? That, I didn’t know.

There was a big house covered in pink, with its chimneys shaped like rabbit ear and roof covered in fur. Somehow it reminded me of the horned rabbit in the island.

In front of the house, under the trees was a set of tables. For there were so many seats, only 2 figures were presented; a man who wore a big, green hat and a brown rabbit-liked person.

Wait, in the tea cup they are holding, there was a…mouse?

…Well, I supposed it was as expected?

Somehow, they seemed… down.

Maybe I could go there and greet them…?

Wait a minute, my goal is to get out of here, right? So why should I bother?

… Welp, it wouldn’t hurt if I tried.

So let’s go!

When I took a closer look, the Hatter was playing with his teaspoon, the rabbit guy just lying down the table and pouring tea into his ear, while the mouse was sleeping.

They all wore bored expression.

“No room! No room!”, they cried out the moment they saw me.

“But why? I see there is plenty of room here.”, I replied thus.

“Then, have a seat.”, said the rabbit, as he pointed to the seat next to the Hatter. Weird…

“Well thank you. So –”, I sat down and looked at them, “– would you kindly tell me the reason that give you such a long face?”

“Well excuse me!? The length of my face is perfect, thank you very much. Or are you trying to criticize my hat?”, protested the Hatter.

“Or are you saying that I should cut my ears? How horrible you could be!?”, cried the angered rabbit guy.

Should I have not said that? They seemed to take my words literally.

“I’m sorry if my saying causes you misunderstandings, but what I mean to ask is what make you so…sad.”

“Sad? Oh no, you are wrong!”, said the Hatter.

“So so wrong!”, continued the rabbit guy.

“We are not sad, we are bored.”

“So so bored.”

“Oh…? How come? I see you have many seats, with tea and cookies and so many things. Would that be enough to make a tea party?”

“For what? If it just a normal tea party, we had plenty already.”

So it must be something special for them, huh…

Well then, isn’t this problem easy to solve?

“So, why don’t you all have a Happy-not-Birthday party?”

“ “ A Happy-not-Birthday party? ” ”

This time, everyone shouted out loud. Even the sleeping mouse suddenly open his eyes and glared at me. Scary.

“What’s the Happy-not-Birthday party?”, asked the Hatter.

“Everyone of us can only have one birthday every year, so for the rest of the year will be your non-birthday day.”

“Huh? But that would mean… we can have tea party every day except our birthday?”, asked the rabbit guy.

“Yes, precisely”, I replied thus.

…

“What a brilliant idea!”

“A evolutional invention!”

“It’s…very…very…good…”

“Well then, gentlemen, let’s us celebrate our first Happy-not-Birthday party!”, the Hatter proclaimed.

“Great idea, Hatter! And you, boy, tea?”, asked the rabbit guy.

“Oh? Just half a cup, please.”

The rabbit guy used the butter knife and cut a tea cup vertically into half and pour tea in.

Surprisingly enough, the tea stayed like that in the remain half of the cup.

Is that… magic?

Oh yeah. I completely forgot my goal.

What’s happening to me…?

I checked the magic density in this area. Sadly, still didn’t have enough magic energy.

“Well then, I hope that you all will have a good time, but I must leave.”

The rabbit guy and the Hatter had totally forgotten about me and enjoying their tea. Well, since they are happy, I might as well be glad for them.


	21. A strange, strange world - 3

I had both visit the Hatter and the Caterpillar, but none of that place had enough magic energy to construct a gate.

No, even weird than that, I couldn’t understand how magic work in this world.

No matter whatever world you are in, the nature of magic stayed the same. At least, that’s what I concluded after studying articles about magic in Y'natalos’s library.

However, I couldn’t sense any magic energy coming from Cheshire, or from the rabbit guy.

Could it just the order of this world? Could it just be simple as that?

While still thinking various things, I entered a garden, filled with bushes that had been cut to form a shape of the heart, and have red rose bloomed on it.

The garden’s owner must be a romanticist, though I myself doubt this statement, based on my experience.

And, well, just say it was as expected.

Just after around 5 minutes since entering the garden, I met a lady. With the face whiter than cloud and red hair with the shape of the heart, it was hard _not_ to notice her. She must be this garden’s owner.

And around her, well… what to say…

I did sense life force coming from them, but how could they be so…flat? What’s wrong with their organism structure?

I wanted to retort, but soon lost the will to do so.

I tried to sense the magic density… It was quite high, but still not enough magic power…

“Hey! You, there!”, shouted the lady.

Hm? You called?

“Why does someone like _you_ here?”

She seemed angry, I wonder why? Maybe because I entered the garden without her permission?

“Oh! I didn’t know that –”

“SILENCE! Guard! Off of her head!!!”

Wh-Wha-!? Wait, what!?

What had I done wrong? Wait, I need a distraction!

“Excuse me! I am a boy, if you don’t mind to correct yourself!”

“SIL– Huh?”

“Won’t it be considered rude to mis-gender some one? Such rudeness!”

“H-How dare you call _me_ – the queen – rude?”

Someone like her was the queen?

_She? The queen?_

“But was I wrong?”

“Silence! Guard! Arrest him!”

Welp, I was in the gaol, now.

Should I feel guilty? …Nope, not in the slightest!

What’s up with that lady? I tried to find the explanation, but none came up.

“My oh my! Why is the bird in the cage like this?”

Oh hello, Cheshire.

“Mind if you tell me who is the lady with red hair?”

“Red hair, hm…? There are many in this place, but for the one who put you here, we call her the Queen of Heart.”

So she _was_ the queen, after all…

“So tell me… what will happen to me?”

“‘Off of his head’, that’s what she would probably said.”

“Is she always that irresponsible?”

“_That_ is not enough to describe Her Majesty. If I were to be honest, I would say she is a tyrant who enjoy decapitating anyone who merely annoyed her.”

Seriously?!

“You look quite calm, despite knowing what is coming for you.”, said Cheshire, with his nonchalant grin.

“Am I now? I myself am in panic at the moment, you know?”

“You don’t appear to be so, though…Oh my, looks like the guard is coming.”

With that said, Cheshire disappeared. Right after that, entered the flat creature (probably the guard Cheshire mentioned).

“It’s time. Let’s go.”

But I don’t want to…

“Hey, why are you willing to serve such person?”

“P-please stand up. T-The queen is waiting…”

Why was he so scared of her?

The short exchange ended, and I was dragged out the gaol.

✧✦✧

Follow the guards, I entered a large round hall.

The queen sat comfortably in the balcony of a tower, alongside her was a crowned man with a pale face.

Are you her husband? How can you watch your wife abusing an innocent child like me?!

With my eyes still focusing on the fidgeting man, I was guided to the center of the hall, where there was a man with an axe waiting.

Um… things started to become too dangerous, right?

“E-Excuse me, my dear, but can you at least held a trial?”

Hm…? The king said just suggested something interesting. Good job, king!

“A TRIAL!?”

“Yes, a t-trial. Just a small one. I-It’s that o-o-okay? After all, she –”

“It’s a ‘he’, your Highness!”, I said to the king.

“O-Oh, pardon me… anyway, h-he is just a child, so can you consider that?”

You are the king, here. Stop trembling!

“Oh alright, then. Let’s hold a trial.”

Safe! From the bottom of my heart, I thank you, king.

“Well then, let’s begin the trial”, said the white rabbit.

At that moment, I was in another large room, with the queen and king sat up high. Both my left and right were lines full of strange creatures. They were writing something, or so it seemed.

However, do you really find a need to chain a kid? Even if I was considered a criminal, to be shackled both hands and legs was too much, you know.

The image of Sheridan being chained back in Etherio appeared in my mind…

…

… Suddenly, I felt a cold chill ran down my back.

… It couldn’t be, right…?

“Herald, read the accusation!”, said a king, with a joyful tone.

…Hm? You seem rather excited about this, huh? Do you know that interrupting someone’s thinking is rude?

The white rabbit blew his trumpet three times, letting the sound vibrated throughout the room. After that, he unrolled a parchment scroll and read:

“The prisoner is charged for intrusion, causing public disturbances and –”

“TOO LOONG! Go right to the end!”, commanded the queen.

“Y-Yes her Majesty–”, cried the white rabbit, as he started scroll the paper and went right to its end “– And most of all, the prisoner angered the queen.”

“Good!”, said the queen, satisfied. She then glared at me with a malicious smile, “Well then, are you ready for your sentence?”

Eh… What is that?

This is my first time, you know? Stop saying strange words.

However, from my impression of her, that ‘sentence’ she had spoken wasn’t the ‘sentence’ I had in mind… right?

…Am I in a dangerous situation?

“Consider, my dear”, said the king, “Before that, shouldn’t we call out the witnesses?”

“Alright then. Call the first witness”, responded the grumpy queen.

“Call the first witness!”, said the white rabbit, after blowing three blasts of his instrument.

The first witness is the Hatter, with a cup of tea in one of his hand, and a piece of bread in the other. He seemed quite cheerful.

“What are you doing?”, asked the king with a confused look.

“Surely you jest! You must know what I am doing!”

“I know what you are doing. What I want to ask is why you are doing this here and now?”

“Because, king, today’s we have a Happy-Not-Birthday party!”

“A Happy-Not-Birthday party?”, asked the queen.

“A Happy-Not-Birthday party!”, replied the Rabbit guy, entering the room with his mouse friend.

“What is it about?”

“Well you see – Oh, so you are here! Why don’t you give her an explanation? It is our tea time, after all.”

After shoving the role to me, the Hatter and his friends started exchanging tea cups together and laughing joyously.

Hatter, my friend, I appreciate your enthusiasm towards my idea, but can you be a little considerate or at least read the mood?

“You DARE ignore me just to have your tea time!? Guard, call Time!”, commanded the queen.

Roughly ten minutes later, a clock entered.

Yes, a damned, walking, clock.

‘Are you Time? Why are you Time? Can I call you Clocky?’, such chain of thoughts appeared in my mind during his entrance.

“A good time to you, Her Majesty! What can the humble me do for you today?”

“Punish this trio for daring to have their tea time during the trial!”

What!? Wait just a mo–

“Understood!”

Clocky took out a watch in his pocket and gave it a tap. The Hatter and his friends disappeared momentously.

“W-What did you just do!?” I screamed.

“Hush, child, for I only follow the Queen’s order. As Her Majesty command, I simply give them their forever-tea-time”, answered Clocky.

Impossible.

I did not sense any magic energy coming from him. Did he actually interfere the law of nature without using magic?

“Well then, let’s get this over this, shall we?”, laughed the Queen.

…What?

“…You are not befitting to be queen”, I said, emerging the rage I had in every single word.

“WHAT!?”

“As I said, _you_ are not fit to be queen.”

“IMBECILE! GUARD, OFF OF HIS HEAD!!!”

Follow the haughty queen, three guards behind me thrusted their spear toward me.

I avoided two of them and used the last thrust to pierce the shackle linked the two hand cuffs. I was able to snatch that spear and cut the shackle between my legs.

The other guards seeing the scene became panic and came attacking me.

Although I was in the middle of the battle, I couldn’t help but wondering…

What is this? A spear? With the tip that shape like the heart and colored in red, it really is harmless. Then how did I break the chain with this?

And about these ‘guards’…How can they be so flat? Just a stroke and they start falling one after another… Was I really scared of them just a moment ago?

The moment I stopped having that useless line of thought, the battle – No, it will be disrespectful for all the fighters to call it a battle – the play ended.

I looked at the queen, and I notice a sudden change in her.

The appearance was the same, but the air of the arrogant queen who easily lose her tempered disappeared. The being who I looked at emitted something I couldn’t describe.

I looked at my hand, and realized I was sweating…

!! Where is the spear!?

I looked around, and notice that nobody presented.

The king, the guards, all the creatures, Clocky… it just like none of them was here to begin with.

In a large room, only the two of us.

What just happened?!

“Foolish boy, if only an anomaly like you disappear sooner…”

The queen said in a voice that devoid of emotion, completely different from the haughty voice I heard earlier.

“Nevertheless, let’s continue the trial.”

A scroll appeared in her hand. That was the same scroll the rabbit used.

“You are charged with invading that person’s land and invoking changes without that person’s consent.”

Who? Who is that person?

“This place – this world – was created by that person and belong to that person only. Even though that person is not conscious of our existence, we still longed for that person’s arrival.”

She then looked at me, her eyes pitch black.

“You”, she said, “You dare intruded this world, and you dare tainted it. Your punishment is to disappear. Well then… Jabberwocky!”

There were cracks appeared in the sky, and with a sound like broking glass, those cracks became larger, revealed two yellow eyes in the midst of red and purple.

The ground shaken violently and a wall of dust risen. Standing right before me at that moment was a gigantic dragon.

“I was given the highest authority in this land, so resistance is futile. Now, die.”

Purple light entangled inside the jaw of the beast, directed right at me. I tried to run away, but my body couldn’t move an inch.

An absurd amount of heat pierced through my body, and I was not left with a single trace…

✧✦✧

Huh? What!? Who am I!?

I opened my eyes and jumped in panic. My body was full of sweat.

I looked around and realized where I was.

After opened the Gate, I entered a world that was scarce magic power.

I was in a room where a girl whose figure was smaller than me sleeping.

Even though she was small, she possessed a vast amount of energy. I thought that it was the reason the Gate was in her room.

Curios, I tried to entered her mind using ⸢Mind⸥.

And the rest… Well, you know…

But I couldn’t believe entering one’s mind could be this scary.

After that, I completely forgot that I was in her mind, and mistook it as the world I just entered. I even nearly forgot about Sheridan.

Moreover, since it was her mind, everything was created by her imagination, that was why I couldn’t analyze anything.

(You sure take your time, kid~!)

(Why didn’t you tell me when you had the chance to?)

(Because it won’t be interesting~)

Well, Sheridan being Sheridan, so I couldn’t complain.

But at least I know that I had to be more careful in the future.

But… If what the queen said was true… the girl herself didn’t aware of the world she created.

…I hope that when the time comes, you can have a great adventure that you always longed for…

…Alice.


	22. Sorry everyone!

Hi guys!

Sorry for the long delay. I got stuck in a lot of work, to the point that crunch time seems like a dream, haha.

But to the main point, I think I'm gonna stop uploading this story's version at this point.

To be honest, in the beginning I kept pondering whether I should write this story in 1st or 3rd POV, and I just decided to upload the 1st one to AO3 while still developing the plot for both POV.

And then I realised that my OC appeared to be transparent and, well, quite crude, considering that I tried to write in the 1st POV of a child who want to act mature in accordance to the main plot. 

So in the end, I'm gonna wrapped this version here and put it back to the corner of my mind :)

I still want to develop the story deeper, and also put more thoughts in how Ventus-Sheridan's relationship develop.

I promised you all that a newer (and hopefully better) version of 'Those Wings' will be uploaded. 

And as I said before, I am a total noob in terms of writing, so if you have any comment on the story or the way I wrote, do tell me :D

Welp, see you all later.


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